The Seventh Circle
by Obsequium Minaris
Summary: [Faunus!Ruby] Ruby was taken from her family at a young age, and indoctrinated into becoming a killer. Now, ten years later, she escapes to Beacon Academy... but is she truly free? Surrounded by remnants of her past and trapped in her own trauma, she must learn to overcome her guilt, lest she be consumed by it.
1. Chapter 1

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 1

* * *

Taiyang Xiao Long considered himself to be one of the strongest men he knew. He had dealt with a lifetime of hardship in pursuit of his dream of becoming a Huntsman, only to be faced with the reality that Remnant was in much worse shape than he thought it was thanks to signing on to be part of Ozpin's inner circle along with the rest of his team. Time and time again, he had come face to face with the very worst that the world had to offer, and he had come out of it as level-headed as ever.

He took pride in the fact that out of the four members of his team, he was the only one who hadn't ever needed to see a counselor of some kind outside of the mandatory sessions Ozpin requested that all of his students sit through. He was only 28, yet he had been through more trauma than most veteran Huntsmen had, and had managed to emerge from it all without ever breaking. Through it all, he couldn't help but be arrogant enough to assume that he would be able to carry on in the same way forever.

The last couple of days had been a cruel reality check, reminding him that he was as vulnerable as the rest of his team in the worst way possible.

He hid his stress and sorrow well, but only because if he didn't, there would be nothing to keep his wife from completely breaking down. Outwardly, Tai's expression was mildly worried, betraying none of his inner turmoil. He had spent years serving as his team's emotional rock, and while those days had long since passed, he could still fall back into the role easily enough when needed.

As terrified as he was, Summer needed someone there to keep her from going crazy.

The silver-eyed Huntress in question was currently sitting in the hall next to him, nervously staring at the bedroom door unflinchingly. The only signs that she was conscious rather than in a trance were the small nervous tics that she exhibited from time to time – a tapping foot, an anxious sigh, a twitch from the pair of wolf ears on top of her head, a small adjustment to her wedding band.

Alarm bells went off in his head when he saw the last one – Tai knew his wife well enough to know that seeing her incessantly playing with her wedding band was a sure sign that she was on the edge of breaking down. Quickly, he leaned over and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey, it'll be okay," he muttered reassuringly. "She'll be fine, Sum. I know she will."

"What if she's not…?"

Summer's voice was tiny, almost inaudible, and wavered enough that he could tell she was on the verge of tears. Tai gave her a quick peck on the cheek before breaking the hug enough to look her in the eyes.

Fighting back his own sadness had been hard, but now, seeing the corners of her eyes glistening with unshed tears, it became almost impossible. Still, for her sake, he beat his emotions back once more.

"She will be," he said firmly. "We were lucky enough to catch it early, before it got even worse. Besides, you know how strong she is. She's a fighter, just like her mom."

Summer gave a small sniffle at that and briefly wiped at the corners of her eyes before turning her gaze back towards the bedroom door.

"I can't hear anything..." she muttered. To emphasize her point, the pair of ears on top of her head twitched slightly. "That's a good thing, right?"

"No news is good news," Tai said. "If she was getting worse, they'd let us know. They wouldn't have spent so long in there if there was no way of saving her."

In truth, Tai had no idea if he was correct or not; like the rest of his team, the extent of his medical knowledge was Beacon's upper-level field medicine courses, plus sitting in the hospital waiting room while some of his friends were being operated on. Still, the concept had applied to injuries sustained in the field – experience told him that surgeons wouldn't spend hours in surgery if there was no hope of saving someone, after all – so it was probably safe to assume that the same thing applied here.

At least, he hoped.

Summer opened her mouth to respond, but immediately stopped and stared with wide eyes at something behind him. Tai turned around, and he couldn't stop himself from relaxing at what he saw.

"Ruby," he said gently. "You should be asleep, honey. It's almost one in the morning."

The five-year-old fidgeted slightly. "...Couldn't sleep," she admitted. "Worried 'bout Yang..."

Summer stood up and walked over to her, then bent over and wrapped her arms around her.

"Yang will be fine, sweetie," she said, any trace of uncertainty in her voice fading. Tai knew that she was still very worried, but neither of them were about to let Ruby know that.

"The doctors are looking at her now. He's going to tell us how to help her get better."

Ruby gave a small giggle at that. "Yay! I wanna play with her, but she's been too sick."

It only lasted for a moment, but Tai could have sworn that he saw Summer's face contort into a look of pure grief before reverting back to normal.

"...You'll get to soon, Ruby," Summer said, her voice strained.

Tai immediately stood up and walked over to Ruby, then picked her up. "Alright, Rosebud. I think it's time for bed."

Ruby looked like she wanted to protest, but a quick yawn cut her off. Tai gave her a small grin before carrying her into her room and tucking her into bed, then leaning down and giving her a kiss between her wolf ears. She gave a small giggle at that before settling into her bed.

"Alright, Rubes. I know you're worried about Yang, but it's important that you get your sleep," Tai said.

Ruby frowned at that. "Don't wanna sleep… Wanna stay up and visit Yang."

"I know, honey. But it's important for a strong Huntress to get a lot of sleep if she wants to stay strong."

The little wolf Faunus perked up excitedly. "I wanna be a strong Huntress!"

Tai ruffled her hair, careful to avoid her sensitive ears. "I know you do, and that's why you need to get some rest." She still looked unconvinced, so he quickly added, "It's really important to me and Mom that you get a good night's sleep, Ruby. Can you do that for me and Mommy?"

She looked disappointed at being told to go to sleep, but nodded all the same. "...For you and Mommy," she said.

"That's my little Huntress," Tai said, giving her a kiss on the forehead before standing up and moving to the door. "Goodnight, Ruby."

"'Night, daddy," Ruby replied.

Tai gave her one final soft look before gently closing the door and turning back to Summer. She gave him an apologetic look.

"...Sorry," she said softly. "I don't know what came over me, being set off by something as small as that." She gave an annoyed sigh. "Look at me – too out of it to even put Ruby to bed..."

Tai walked over and pulled her into another hug. "Don't start with that," he gently told her. "We're all worried – you, me, Ruby, Qrow, even Ozpin and Glynda. Beating yourself up for feeling the same way we all do isn't going to help anything."

She gave another sigh, this one of resignation. "...I'm so lucky to have you," she said.

Tai broke the hug enough to look her in the eyes and give her a reassuring smile. "That's my line, Sum. If you hadn't been there for me and Yang, I don't know-"

The door to Yang's bedroom suddenly opened up, cutting him off. Both parents stared, wide-eyed, as the head doctor, a man named Aidan Gray, came marching out. It didn't take any time for both of them to crowd around him, hopeful looks on their faces as they silently plead for any news he could give. He pulled the surgical mask off of his face before turning to them, his expression optimistic.

"You'll be happy to know that we've managed to isolate the disease and keep it from spreading for now," he reported.

Tai breathed a huge sigh of relief, barely managing to let it out before Summer wrapped her arms around him, happy tears streaming down her face and a big grin on her face.

"I hate to ruin your happiness, but she's not out of the woods just yet," Doctor Gray warned, causing them both to immediately sober up and stare at him in shock. He continued, "We've only managed to keep it from getting any worse. As of now, she's still comatose. She needs additional special treatment – treatment you won't find outside of Atlas, given how rare the disease is."

"What do we need to do?" Tai asked, his voice firm.

"Find a way to get into contact with some of the higher-ups in Atlas about a man named Pietro Polendina – he's an old friend of mine, and the expert in this field. He used to be a robotics expert before his daughter got sick with the same disease, and dedicated himself to studying it in order to find a cure. He was too late to save her, but so far, everyone else he's treated with it has made a full recovery."

"How do we get in contact with him?" Summer asked.

"...If you've got any favors with the Atlesian Military, now would be a good time to call them in," Gray said, his voice hollow. "Last I heard, he's gone back to studying robotics on some government project up there. No idea why. If you can convince the military to let him take a hiatus in order to work on your daughter, I know he'd be happy to."

"You've done more than enough," Tai said. "Thank you so much, Aiden."

"Anything to help. I'll give Pietro a call in the morning and see if I can't get him to pressure the military from the inside, but I can't guarantee anything – whatever they've got him working on, it must be important. I haven't been able to talk to him for months."

"Whatever you can do for us, we'll take," Summer said.

Gray nodded. "If anything comes up, don't hesitate to give me a call." He stepped over to the stairs before looking back. "...And when she does get better-"

"We'll let you know right away," Tai said. "It'd be the least we can do to repay you after everything you've done for us."

He gave them both a small grin. "I wish you both luck, then. I'll keep a nurse and a doctor on standby here in the event that her condition worsens – I don't expect it to so soon, but just in case."

"Thank you," Summer said.

Doctor Gray gave them both a final nod before heading down the stairs. The instant it was clear that the conversation was over, Summer turned to Tai, determination evident in her expression.

"I'll call Oz," she volunteered. "I'll get him to lean on Colonel Ironwood a bit to encourage him to help us."

Tai nodded. "I'll arrange transport. I'll get an airship, and see if I can convince some of the doctors and nurses here to travel with us."

With that, both adults whipped out their scrolls and frantically began placing calls as fast as they could. It would be an expensive trip, and it would likely cost both them and Oz most of the favors they had accumulated over the years, but all of them were willing to pay any price if it meant that Yang would recover.

The two of them had spent years trying to raise a family together, and they weren't about to let it fall apart due to sickness.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for the Xiao Long-Rose family to find themselves en route to Atlas. Ozpin had managed to come through for them, and had convinced Ironwood to speak to the Atlesian council about letting Doctor Polendina take a hiatus. Thankfully, they had seen fit to grant this request, meaning Yang would be receiving the treatment she needed. It was a small miracle that it had all happened so fast – Doctor Gray's final visit had only been two days ago, yet already they were in an airship, and only an hour or so out from the hospital where Yang was due to be operated on.

Taiyang cast another look around the interior of the airship, tapping his foot slightly as he did so. Like Summer, he was thankful for what Ironwood had done for them, yet there was still no small amount of uncertainty and anxiety at play. What if Yang's condition worsened before they arrived at the hospital? They had managed to arrange for a doctor and a nurse to travel with them, and had dragged all of the machines she was hooked up to along for the ride as well, yet the idea that their luck would run out so close to the end was terrifying.

Even with Qrow purposely staying as far away as possible, there was always the fear that something could still go wrong.

Besides that, there was the ever-present concern that Doctor Polendina wouldn't be able to help – after all, his own daughter had lost her fight with the very same disease despite his intervention, and Tai couldn't help but worry that, even after putting his best put forward, Pietro wouldn't be able to save Yang from the same fate.

A small, angry huff forced its way from his throat – born of worry, no doubt, but angry all the same. The blonde Huntsman crossed his arms over his chest, trying to force himself to calm down.

Tai turned to his left and found himself staring at his wife. He frowned, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before opening his eyes to look at her once more. Like him, she was exhausted; the dark rings beneath her eyes were proof enough of that. Despite the recent positive turn of events, both of them were still barely hanging on – sleep naturally wasn't easy to come by when they had both been spending almost all their time trying to set things up, and even after getting onto the airship, neither of them were in a good enough head space to easily fall asleep. Summer had finally managed to pass out about halfway through the trip, much to Tai's relief.

Unfortunately, that left him alone with his concerns, and in the absence of anyone to witness him, he was finding it very difficult to keep them under control.

Tai almost envied Ruby. She was resting in Summer's lap, her head buried in the crook of her mother's neck while Summer gently held her in place with one arm. Of course, Ruby didn't understand the gravity of the situation; if she had, she would have been of the same mindset as her parents. As it was, the excitement of the previous few days had finally caught up with her, and she had drifted off not long after they had all reached cruising altitude.

"Tai."

He quickly turned to his wife, his foot ceasing its tapping in the same motion. Summer was awake – still clearly exhausted, but slightly rejuvenated. The few hours she had gotten were a start, but not nearly enough. Tai couldn't help but frown at the idea that he had woken her up.

"Sorry to wake you," he said.

"Don't apologize to me for that," she said softly. "Not when you've been keeping everything bottled up."

A pang of guilt flashed through his mind. Clearly, he hadn't been as discrete as he thought he was. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off.

"And don't apologize for that, either. I know why you did it. I'm not happy about it, but I can at least see why."

Tai shut his mouth. He knew better than to say anything to the contrary.

Summer leaned back in her seat, being careful not to disturb Ruby. "Times like these, I wish I had Qrow's strength."

Tai knew what she meant. It had taken a long time and a lot of counseling, but by the end of their time at Beacon, Qrow had emerged incredibly stable. His strength was a far cry from Taiyang's, but he had a certain aloofness that Tai lacked. Even when Yang had gotten sick and he had been told to stay away, he had taken it in stride, simply requesting that they give him updates whenever they could before disappearing to Vacuo for a bit.

He had come a long way from the moody and hostile young man that had entered Beacon alongside them. It was easy to see why Summer would envy him to a certain degree, but that wasn't going to stop Tai from disagreeing with her.

"You're stronger than you think you are," Tai said. "When Raven left, I was a wreck – and don't try to say that I wasn't," he added, stopping her when she tried to interrupt. "I was barely hanging on, even worse than I am now. If you hadn't been there for me, I don't know what I would've done. Maybe drink myself into a coma or something, I'm not sure. Point is, you helped me through all of that. Kept me sane. You were there for me at my worst."

"Wish I could do the same thing here…" she muttered. "What changed?"

"If I had to guess? Hearing Yang call you 'Mama' for the first time," Tai pointed out. "She's just as much your daughter now as she is mine."

"All the more reason why I should stay level-headed."

"Hey," Tai said, gently cutting her off. He took her hand in his and looked her in the eyes. "Let's both just take a deep breath, okay? We're almost at Atlas. Yang will get treatment there, and it'll all be okay. Logically, there shouldn't be anything for us to worry about. We're both stressed, and tired. Once we're at the hospital, Pietro will get to work on her, and she'll be fine. Worrying won't accomplish anything aside from making things worse." He gave her hand a small squeeze. "…Let's both agree that we'll stay calm until he's had a chance to look at her. Much as I hate to admit it, there's nothing else we can do at this point aside from that."

Summer's mouth tightened into a thin line at that, but she nodded nonetheless. "...Okay."

At her confirmation, Tai relaxed. "Good..." He let go of her hand and reached into his pocket, searching for his scroll in order to take a look at the time. "Not much longer until we land." He gestured towards the sleeping Ruby. "Do you want to wake her up now?"

Summer cast a glance down at Ruby, who mumbled something in her sleep. The silver-eyed Huntress couldn't hold back a smile as she stared at her daughter. She gave Tai a quick nod, then gently shook Ruby awake.

"Ruby, sweetie, it's time to get up."

Sleepily, Ruby cracked open both eyes and rubbed them before giving a small yawn. She looked around questioningly before turning back to her mother.

"Are we there yet…?"

Summer shook her head. "Not yet, Rosebud. A little bit longer. But we wanted to go over some of the things we all talked about before we left."

She gently placed Ruby down on the seat next to her, then pointed to the wool cap that she was wearing on her head.

"What did we say about your cap?"

Ruby thought for a moment. "...I have to wear it all the time, 'cuz it's really cold in Atlas, and my ears are really sen-a-tive to the cold."

Summer smiled at her. "Good. And what about if we have to leave the hospital and walk around the city?"

"I have to hold hands with you or Daddy, and tell you right away if something happens to my hat."

"And what if you catch someone looking at you funny? What do you do then?"

"Tell you or Daddy, and you'll take care of it."

Summer gently rubbed Ruby's head. "Good."

Thankfully, in this instance, 'take care of it' did not boast the same meaning as it had when they were all still at Beacon, given that fatherhood had mellowed Tai out substantially and Qrow was entirely absent. Colonel Ironwood had specifically told them that if anyone were to say or do anything to harass Ruby, they were to report to him immediately, and he would handle it personally. In his own brief words, racial tension was incredibly high in Atlas at the moment, and the last thing he wanted was one of them making it worse by escalating things. Both parents had agreed to this, for Ruby's sake; she had never been away from Patch before, and while Patch's admittedly minuscule population was overwhelmingly open-minded when it came to Faunus – and, for that matter, a Faunus and a human getting married and having a child together – the rest of the world was not.

Inevitably, Ruby would have to receive the racism talk at some point, and while it would no doubt happen sooner rather than later given the nature of the world, this was neither the time nor the place for it. Perhaps when they got home, and Yang was better. Until then, it would have to wait.

Ruby fidgeted uncomfortably, catching her mother's attention. "Don't like the snow gear."

"I know, Rosebud," Summer said. "You'll only have to wear it until we get inside. Then you can take your jacket, gloves, and boots off."

"But not my hat," Ruby pointed out.

Summer gave her a small grin. "Very good."

Ruby beamed at the praise for a second before her grin faded, replaced with a look of realization. She turned to Tai, an excited look on her face.

"Daddy, Daddy! Tell me a story until we land!"

Tai chuckled and pulled her into his lap. "Sure thing, sweetie. Which one do you want?"

"Tell me about the time Uncle Qrow fought the elephant Grimm!"

Summer couldn't help but chuckle at the request. She knew exactly what that story consisted of, and while it had been deemed appropriate for Ruby to hear, it wasn't told very often because it was a very embarrassing story for Qrow – it was their first time out in the field after he had modified his weapon to be capable of turning into a sword in addition to a scythe, and despite the hours he had spent practicing with it, his inexperience had been obvious.

Even now, years after graduating, Qrow would still get mad and leave the room whenever it was brought up.

Tai grinned. "You sure? You know your uncle doesn't like that story."

"But it's so funny! Please?"

Tai pretended to consider it for a moment. "Alright, I'll tell it."

Ruby squealed excitedly and settled into her father's lap as he began to speak, recounting everything as if it had happened yesterday. Summer watched as Tai went into the story, with Ruby staring at him with rapt attention.

For the rest of the flight, all she could think of was how badly she wanted her family to be whole again.

* * *

It was barely an hour later that the airship touched down on the hospital's landing pad. It was just after midnight by the time they arrived, just as had been arranged – the hospital would be mostly empty save for them and the medical team, meaning they could get Yang in to see Pietro as quickly as possible. Once the cargo bay doors opened, they were met by a small group of nurses and doctors, who wasted no time in gathering both Yang and the equipment she needed and hurrying her inside. Summer and Tai quickly gathered up their belongings and began to follow after them.

They made it halfway to the building when Colonel Ironwood came out to greet them, along with a squad of Specialists. The family stopped, giving Ironwood a confused look.

"Summer, Tai," he greeted.

"James," Tai replied, an edge creeping into his voice. "What are you doing?"

"Carrying out the worst set of orders I've ever been given," he said bluntly. He cast a glance down at Ruby. "Perhaps it would be best if your daughter went on ahead? These men can escort her to a waiting area just outside the operating room, and you can meet her there in a bit. There is no need for anyone but us to be present for this."

One of the men behind him stiffened. "Sir-"

"Consider that an order, Sergeant," Ironwood replied. "You may be here because General Onyx commanded it, but I can still punish you for insubordination all the same if you refuse to do what I tell you. Now, unless you plan on earning yourself a court martial, you should carry out your order without complaint. Am I clear?"

"...Crystal, sir," the man replied.

"Excellent." Ironwood turned back to the family of three in front of them. "Would you like them to escort her inside?"

"Not until you tell us what's going on," Summer said. "What are you trying to do?"

"Follow my orders, ridiculous as they are."

Tai stepped forward, his eyes flashing and his hands balled into fists. "James, if you keep us from Yang any longer, I will throw you and all of your men off the roof. You've got ten seconds to either start talking or stand aside."

"Stand down," Ironwood commanded as the Specialists behind him began to shift into combat stances. Hesitantly, they all relaxed, though each of them fixed Tai with a harsh glare. Once his men were reined in, Ironwood sighed heavily. "I was hoping to avoid talking about this with the little one being present…" He turned to Summer. "I'll give it to you straight: the council thinks you're a security risk, Missus Rose."

Tai stiffened. "Why would they possibly think-"

"You know why," Ironwood said, his tone dripping with regret. He motioned to the top of his head for emphasis.

Tai grit his teeth before looking over to his wife. She frowned, then leaned down to look Ruby in the eyes.

"Ruby, sweetie, why don't you go in with those men and wait for us? We'll be there in a minute."

Ruby looked over at the Specialists and shifted uncomfortably. "...They're really scary," she muttered.

"We'll be right behind you, okay? Nothing is going to happen. I promise." She gave Ruby a small hug. "Please?"

"...'Kay," Ruby said after a few seconds. Summer released her, and she hesitantly walked over to where Ironwood was standing. The soldiers gave her a wary glance, but did as they were told, leading her into the building without complaint or comment. Soon enough, only James, Summer, and Tai were left standing out in the cold.

As soon as the door closed on the last soldier, Tai rounded on James.

"Tell us exactly what the council wants and why I shouldn't march over there right now and break all of them in half," he spat.

"Tai," Summer said, taking him by the arm to hold him back. She glared at Ironwood. James had to resist taking a step back.

Even now, with Tai a step away from kicking in the door to the council's chambers and wringing all their necks, she somehow still managed to be the more intimidating out of the two of them.

James sighed. "Let me begin by saying that I'm sorry that I have to do this-"

"That isn't stopping you from doing it," Tai pointed out angrily.

"Orders are orders. If I had another option, I'd take it. But I don't." He sighed heavily. "I'm sure both of you are aware about the White Fang protests happening across Atlas?"

"Of course. They're not new. Tell us something we don't know."

"Well, recently, something has changed. They've started attracting a lot more Faunus, and are happening more often. Not only that, but there's been an upturn in violence on both sides – nothing deadly yet, but at this point, the whole city's a powder keg. The moment someone dies, on either side, we're going to have citywide riots on our hands."

"What does this have to do with us?" Summer asked.

"The council has started taking steps to prevent bloodshed. They've already instituted no-assembly edicts and curfews, though that hasn't done a damn thing to stop the protesters. Their most recent move was a temporary ban on Faunus carrying weapons. No exceptions. Not even for Huntresses or Specialists." He sighed again. "The council thinks you're a security risk, Summer. I am here to collect your weapon to put them at ease. And until I do, those soldiers inside have been ordered to prevent Doctor Polendina from treating your daughter."

Tai took a step forward, a series of swears ready to erupt from his mouth, only for him to be interrupted by the sound of metal clattering onto the roof of the building. Turning around, he found that Summer had unclasped her sword from her belt and unceremoniously thrown it onto the ground. She fixed Ironwood with a harsh glare, her silver eyes glimmering in the night.

"Take it, then gather your men and leave," she said, her voice seething with rage. "And the next time you report to the council, tell them that if they ever try to leverage my kids against me again, there won't be enough of them left for their families to bury."

She didn't bother to wait for Ironwood's response, instead taking Tai by the arm and storming into the hospital, searching for the waiting room. They found it soon enough, and the instant they stepped inside, Ruby came bounding over to them. Summer bent down to pick her up, then gave her a kiss on the forehead before turning to the soldiers and giving them a harsh glare.

"Get out."

They didn't need to be told twice. After a quick glance at her hip to see that her sword was missing, they all hastily left the room, not even bothering to look back. Once they were all gone, Summer took a deep breath before turning to her daughter.

"Are you okay, Ruby?"

Ruby nodded. "Y-yes… Are they coming back?"

"If they do, it'll be the last thing they do," Tai grumbled under his breath. With her free arm, Summer softly elbowed him in the side. "I mean, no, they won't. Nothing to worry about, Ruby."

"Can we go see Yang yet?"

"Of course, sweetie," Summer said. She put Ruby down, and the three of them pushed their way through the double doors into the operating room.

The medical team from the airship had worked fast, and had managed to set up all of the necessary medical equipment they had brought with them in record time. Now, the room looked much like Yang's room back in their house on Patch, though it also boasted a large array of other advanced-looking medical equipment with unknown purposes. The small team of doctors and nurses from the airship were huddled around Yang's hospital bed, looking for any signs of her condition changing; when they saw the family coming, they cleared some space for the three of them to move closer. Together, the Xiao Long-Rose family approached Yang's bed, and looked down at her.

It had only been a few weeks since the sickness had taken hold, but it had worked fast. Yang's condition had quickly deteriorated, and within just a few days, she had slipped into a coma. At this point, the only things keeping her alive were the machines she was hooked up to – various IVs giving her fluids, medicines, and antibiotics, as well as equipment designed to monitor her condition. A breathing mask covered her mouth and nose, the same way it had ever since she first fell into her coma.

Even upon a cursory glance, it was clear as day that she was dying. She had lost a great deal of weight, leaving her unhealthily thin. Her skin was extremely pale, the farmer's tan she had acquired from many days playing in the sun having long since faded as her health deteriorated. Most tellingly of all, her mane of blond hair, which she had always been very protective and fussy over, had faded from a bright gold to a sickly yellow, and despite Summer still doing her best to care for and brush it every day, it refused to return to even a shadow of its former self, instead remaining stringy and oily.

"Mommy, Yang is gonna get better soon, right?" Ruby asked.

"She is if I have anything to say about it," came a deep voice from behind them.

All of them turned around and were met by a bearded, dark-skinned, middle-aged man dressed in surgical scrubs approaching them. He gave them all a wide smile as he came closer.

"Summer and Tai, right?" he asked, earning a nod from both of them. "Good. I am Pietro Polendina, and I will be working on your daughter today." He cast a glance down at Ruby, who shied away. "Your other daughter, of course; this one here seems quite healthy, thankfully. What's your name, little one?"

"R-Ruby…" she said softly.

He grinned at her. "Nice to meet you, Ruby. I promise that I will do everything in my power to help your sister get better."

Ruby stared at him, wide-eyed, before breaking into a wide smile. "Thank you!"

"Please, thank me after I've managed to help her," he said. "Now, let's take a look at what we're working with."

Everyone else stepped back to give him some room to work, leaving him the only one within several feet of Yang's hospital bed. For the next several minutes, he did a quick, surface-level examination, humming in thought the whole time. Finally, once he was satisfied with what he found, he turned back to his audience.

"I won't know for certain until I've conducted a more thorough examination, but just from what I can see here, she looks to be in better shape than some of the other children I've managed to bring back from the brink," he reported.

Summer let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. A quick glance over at Tai showed that he had just finished doing the same.

"So, you can help her?" Tai asked.

Pietro nodded. "Indeed, I can. Luckily, it seems as though you managed to catch it early – if you hadn't, she'd be in much worse shape. Again, I'll have to take a closer look to be sure, but from what I've seen, I'm optimistic about her chances."

It took a second for his words to truly sink in, but when they did, the family wasted no time in embracing each other, relieved. Pietro stood back, letting them have their moment before clearing his throat to get their attention.

"Now, that being said, there is something I need you to do, Taiyang. Do you remember what Doctor Gray mentioned a few days ago?"

Tai nodded. "He said Yang would need a bone marrow transplant, and that it would have to come from me."

"Correct. Normally, I would allow both parents to determine which of them would be the donor, but after reviewing some of the information you sent me, it will have to be you."  
Summer and Tai exchanged a quick glance. When they had received word that Pietro would do the operation, they had sent their own family and medical histories to him in case he needed them. He had quickly determined that, if Yang's situation was anything like the others he had treated, she would almost certainly require a marrow transplant, and since the donor had to be a close genetic match to her, but they didn't have time to search through a donor registry for an appropriate match, that left either Taiyang or Ruby.

Naturally, Ruby's name had quickly been crossed off the very short list of potential candidates.

"When do you need me?" Tai asked.

"That will be one of the first things we do," Pietro replied. "First, I will take your bone marrow, and freeze it until Yang is ready to receive it. In the meantime, I will put her through chemotherapy, which is done to weaken her immune system so her body won't reject the cells. It will take about a week for her to be ready for the transplant, but when she is, we'll do it right away. If all goes right, the new marrow will help fight the disease in addition to helping repair the damage it's already done. With that done, everything else will become much easier."

"Will the surgery take long?" Summer asked.

Pietro shook his head. "The donation itself will only take two hours at most. However, Taiyang will be under general anesthesia for it, so it will take him some time to wake up."

"I can't be awake for it?" Tai asked.

Pietro gave him a funny look. "While I admire your courage, I don't think this is something you want to be awake to experience, given that the procedure involves sticking a very large needle directly into your pelvic bone."

At that, the Huntsman paled. "...Anesthesia sounds nice."

The doctor barked out a laugh at that. "You made the right choice, trust me. Anyway, I'll get set up to draw your marrow. I'll need you to get changed into a gown and lie down in a hospital bed for me."

"Sure, anything you need," Tai said. He turned back to Summer and Ruby. "Do you two want to head over to the hotel and wait for me?"

Summer looked down at Ruby. "What do you think?" Ruby blinked, then vehemently shook her head. Summer chuckled and gently rubbed her head. "We'll wait until you wake up, Tai."

"You sure? It's already pretty late. I'll be out for a few hours at the very least."

"I'm sure. I think we'd both rather wait for you."

"If you'd like a place to sleep, there are some quarters on the first floor," Pietro pointed out. "They're supposed to be reserved for doctors and nurses working in shifts in the aftermath of a large-scale Grimm attack, but Atlas' perimeter defenses are so heavy that we haven't had an attack like that in several decades. I don't think anyone here would mind if you commandeered them for a few hours."

Summer nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Doctor. You have no idea how much all this means to us."

"Respectfully, Missus Rose, I was in your position once," he said somberly. "If I can prevent anyone from going through what I had to, I will. Now, why don't you and Ruby go downstairs and get some rest? I will send a nurse to come get you when Taiyang's anesthesia wears off."

"Of course." She turned to face Tai. "I'll see you in a few hours, honey. I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied.

With that, Summer took Ruby's hand, and together the two of them walked out of the room and over to the nearby elevators. A quick ride down to the first floor and a minute of searching later, and the two of them had found an unoccupied room they could borrow. Both of them climbed into bed, with Ruby snuggling up next to her mother and Summer wrapping an arm around her, and within just a few seconds, both of them were asleep, the day's excitement having finally caught up to them.

Both of them were completely ignorant of the crowd gathering just outside the hospital.

* * *

It was just a few hours later that Ruby and Summer were harshly awoken by loud noises from outside – crashes, shouting, and what sounded like someone speaking into a megaphone.

Summer frowned. She had a pretty good idea of what was going on, given what Ironwood had told them earlier.

"Mommy, what's going on?" Ruby asked, her voice wavering with fear.

"Nothing, sweetie," Summer replied. "Don't worry about it."

A loud crash coming from the front of the hospital made both of them jump. It sounded like a large piece of glass had shattered. Ruby tightly gripped onto her mother's cloak, causing Summer to frown. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Stay here, Rosebud. Lock the door when I leave and don't open it again until I come back."

Ruby's eyes widened. "W-what's going on?"

"I'm just going to take a look around and tell Colonel Ironwood if anything looks out of place. Promise me that you'll lock the door and won't move until I return."

Ruby froze before giving a slow nod. Summer flashed her a reassuring smile before standing up and walking over to the door, stepping outside before closing it behind her. She waited for the click of the lock being turned, and after hearing it, turned on her heel and marched towards where the crash had come from. Internally, she sighed; she shouldn't be getting involved in something like this, but if the hospital was being looted, then she owed it to the staff to at least call it in after everything they had done for her family.

As she walked, she couldn't help but feel vulnerable without her weapon. It shouldn't have weighed on her as heavily as it was – thanks to Tai, she was confident enough in her hand-to-hand combat abilities that she could easily handle any looters if it came to that – but after spending so much time carrying her sword around everywhere she went, being without it left her feeling almost naked.

As Summer got closer to the front of the building, the noises from outside began to grow louder, and were joined by several loud voices that were much closer. If there was any doubt as to what was happening, it could probably be put to rest. The veteran Huntress let out a sigh of annoyance as she rounded the final corner and came fact-to-face with several people dressed in cloth masks rifling through any containers they could find. Summer briefly noted that they all appeared to be Faunus.

What they were searching for, Summer had no idea. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good – the only things that came to mind were drugs or chemicals. In any case, there were only a few of them, so it wouldn't be a problem for her to put a stop to this before it got out of hand.

"Hey!" she called out, causing all of them to turn to her in surprise. "What are you doing?! You're raiding a hospital! Do you have any shame at all?!"

A couple of them exchanged a glance of uncertainty. One of them finally turned back to her and spoke.

"What's it to you? Fuck off, human."

Racism was a two-way street, apparently. Summer had to resist the urge to facepalm. Annoyed, she reached up and took off her cap, letting it fall to the floor in order to expose her ears.

"I'm a Faunus too, moron. Now, mind explaining why you're looting a hospital, of all places?"

They all exchanged another look with each other before the same man from before spoke up again. "Why do you care? This place is government-funded. You should be happy we're sticking it to the Atlesian government."

"I care because my daughter is currently upstairs being treated for a life-threatening illness, you idiot, and I'm not a fan of spitting in the faces of the people who are working to keep her alive," Summer fired back. She was very quickly losing her patience with these fools. "Now, I suggest you all drop whatever you're holding and leave before I start taking it personally."

Everyone in the group was suddenly looking a lot less sure of themselves. One of them actually did what he was told, putting down the box he was carrying and quickly turning on his heel to leave through the pile of broken glass and twisted metal that was once the hospital's sliding front doors. The rest of them seemed to consider her words for a moment, but still looked uncertain. Another one stepped forward to address her.

"Why do we care about what you have to say? Just because your kid is upstairs doesn't mean-"

Summer quickly disregarded anything he had to say past that point, instead bending over to pick up a piece of metal from the destroyed door. It was a fairly big piece – easily the length of her arm, and at least a few inches thick. It seemed like it had come from the frame, so it was likely very sturdy. She was certainly no expert in metallurgy, but from what she could see, it appeared to be stainless steel. Going off what Doctor Polendina had said about the Grimm attacks, it was likely put into place to support a much sturdier door that had since been replaced for something more aesthetically pleasing.

Focusing her aura into her arms, she promptly bent it into a pretzel before holding it up and showing it to them.

All of them immediately paused, staring at her with wide eyes. Summer let the piece of metal fall to the ground before glaring at them.

"You know, it'd be pretty embarrassing if you all had to end up being treated by the same doctors you were just trying to rob," Summer said. "I'm going to count to five. If you haven't all dropped whatever you're holding and started to walk away by then, we're going to have a problem. One."

She never got to two. The entire group promptly threw down whatever medical supplies they were carrying and booked it, sprinting out of the hospital as fast as their legs could take them. Summer allowed herself a small grin as she watched them disappear into the night. Once she was sure they were gone, she turned to go back to her room, but quickly thought better of it; from the sound of things, the protest-turned-riot was still ongoing, even if it seemed to be moving away from her, and it was possible that more people could try breaking into the hospital. Sighing, Summer grabbed a nearby chair from the waiting area and propped it in the doorway before taking a seat, one leg crossed over the other, and typing out a quick message to Ironwood explaining what had just happened. Hopefully, he would send some men to relieve her, but for now, she would hold down the fort on her own. Briefly, she considered going back for her hat, but decided against it, figuring that letting the protesters see that she was a Faunus might help them reconsider.

And so, Summer sat back and waited for the chaos to be over.

* * *

"This is a waste of time."

At the sound of his ally's voice, Hazel exhaled sharply. "What do you suggest, then?"

"I suggest we look elsewhere for something more promising. We've been here monitoring this group and trying to subtly steer them in the right direction for months, and we still have nothing to show for it beyond petty chaos."

"If you want to be the one to tell that to Salem, then be my guest. Just remember that this was your suggestion in the first place."

The other man, Watts, went silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "I only vocalized this idea because Merlot managed to stumble on some of their members when he was looking for people to test his Grimm against and told me it was worth looking into."

Hazel huffed. "I'm sure she'll take that well, given what happened to him."

"His intel was solid up until this point."

"Up until it got him killed, you mean."

"I said his intel was solid, not his OpSec. What he managed to provide us before he was found out and killed was incredibly valuable… which just makes him pointing us in this direction all the more confusing, given how much of a disappointment it's been." Watts brushed some snow off his shoulders before turning back to Hazel. "Initially, I thought that maybe he saw something in them that we haven't yet, but all I can see is an irrelevant splinter group that is utterly incapable of doing anything meaningful even with the scraps of military intelligence we leak to them."

Hazel didn't bother to look at Watts during his rant, instead focusing on looking over the riot through his binoculars. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way," he ventured. "The drive is there – the riots are proof enough of that. Perhaps it would just take the right push to send them over the edge."

"It would have to be a pretty big push. Ineffective as he is these days, Ghira is still lionized by all of them for his charisma and prior victories." Watts thought for a bit. "Perhaps we could recommend sending Tyrian to deal with the Belladonna family. He would blend in much better than the two of us, and the shock of losing Ghira and his family would be more than enough to spur the rest of the White Fang into violence." He shrugged. "Just something to consider in case we decide to give up on this. Salem will probably be less angry at us if we can provide a suitable suggestion to her."

Hazel grunted in agreement before going back to surveying the chaos below. The two of them were currently on the roof of a tall building in downtown Atlas, the same place they had spent their nights for the past week or so. This building in particular provided an excellent vantage point from which to gaze out over most of the area; the only place that seemed better was the nearby hospital, but it always had at least a small team of staff on call whereas their current position was quick to empty at the end of a workday.

"See anything?" Watts asked.

Hazel shook his head. "Nothing beyond the usual – lots of debris being thrown, nonlethal weapons being deployed, and people being arrested. Certainly nothing like what we were hoping."

"Not surprised. Shall we call it a night? The forecast was calling for a blizzard in a few hours, and I'd rather not get caught in it."

"Let's give it a bit longer, it's possible that we might find something-"

At that exact moment, Hazel happened to focus on the hospital. What he saw made him pause.

"Watts, look at the hospital and tell me I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Watts gave him a strange look, but pulled out his own set of binoculars and set up beside him regardless. It took a few seconds, but soon enough, he was staring at the same spot Hazel was, and was similarly stunned.

"Is that-"

"The woman who killed Merlot? I don't know; describe the woman we saw on his cameras."

"Black hair with red tips, about five-and-a-half feet tall, always wears a white cloak, wolf Faunus, silver eyes."

Slowly, Hazel lowered his binoculars, a grim look on his face. "I think that's her. How do we want to go about this?"

"Salem wanted her alive for questioning and experimentation, but there's no way we'd get her out of Atlas without alerting the entire military to our presence. Then again, we'll probably never get another chance like this. She appears to be alone, possibly recovering from an injury given that she's in a hospital, I don't see a weapon on her, and it's unlikely that anyone will investigate what's going on given the nearby riot. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect opportunity."

"Then it's settled," Hazel said, standing up. "Forget the plan with the White Fang. This is more important. We're going in immediately."

* * *

Summer rolled her eyes when she heard the person on the megaphone demand that the rioters surrender for what must have been the thirtieth time in ten minutes. Whatever the riot police were doing, it wasn't working. Frankly, she was surprised they hadn't just flooded the area with tear gas – with their enhanced senses, that would easily cause a crowd of Faunus to disperse.

Then again, with how frequent the protests seemed to be, perhaps they had already run out of it.

Thankfully, all the negativity hadn't seemed to attract any Grimm. If it had, Atlas' perimeter defenses and constantly patrolling air force had taken care of them before she could see even a single one off in the distance.

Honestly, she found that idea as reassuring as she did concerning. With the way things were going, it was probably only a matter of time before some overzealous military commander or council leader ordered the airships to turn their guns on the protests below. Even if almost everybody refused that order, it would only take one pilot to go along with it in order to cause things to spiral out of control fast, and in her experience working alongside Atlas' military personnel, there were certainly plenty of people who would happily pull the trigger in that situation if they were ordered to.

Maybe it was a good thing that she had yet to hear back from Ironwood. He might have been trustworthy, but from the looks of things, not everybody under his command was. The only thing worse than having just her stuck guarding the hospital was letting a bunch of racists with itchy trigger fingers do it instead.

A cold breeze blew through the street, causing the veteran Huntress to shiver before gathering her cloak in her hands and wrapping it tightly around herself. Even her thick winter clothing wasn't able to do much against a freezing Atlas night. The whole experience made her just want to go back inside and lie in bed with her daughter, but there was no way she was going to leave the hospital unguarded until the police managed to get things under control.

Unfortunately, that seemed like it was going to take a while, meaning she was stuck here, feeling like she was about to freeze to her chair.

Movement from the other end of the street in front of her suddenly caught her attention, causing her to narrow her eyes. From the looks of things, it was a single man moving towards her position, his hands wrapped around himself in a futile attempt to stave off the cold.

He'd get no sympathy from her, given that he had made the idiotic decision to go out in little more than a suit and overcoat. He wasn't even wearing gloves.

He eventually got close enough for her to get a better look at him, and what she saw made her relax. He didn't appear to be a Faunus, but then again, it was possible he was just hiding his Faunus trait. Similarly, he also didn't appear to be affiliated with the rioters, unless they suddenly stopped wearing their black cloth masks and started wearing suits and ties. He didn't seem to be a fighter, but then again looks could be deceiving – Summer herself wasn't much to look at, after all. Still, he wasn't visibly armed, and his physique didn't mark him as a physical powerhouse. Summer doubted that he would pose much of a threat to her even without her weapon.

As he came closer, she called out to him.

"Stop," she said, causing him to freeze mid-step as he attempted to cross the street.

A small, friendly smile crossed his face. "Hello, there. I don't suppose you could help me with something?"

"That depends on what you need," Summer replied, rising from her seat. "A couple of looters tried breaking in, so I'm not too keen on letting anyone get close. State your business."

"Ah, I see. Well, I was looking for someone who could help me out. My wife has a bit of a cold, and requested that I go get her some medicine. Unfortunately, the pharmacies are all closed, for obvious reasons. I don't want to go home empty-handed if I can avoid it, so I was hoping the hospital had some basic cold medicine they'd be willing to part with."

Summer frowned. "Sorry, but I don't think I can help you. I don't work here, so I have no idea what they stock. I also don't want to leave this spot while the riots are still going on."

"Can't you check? It'll only take a second, I'm sure."

"Sorry, but no."

He sighed and brought his hands up to massage his temples. "Oh, she's going to be mad..."

"I think she'll give you a pass if you tell her you had to cut through an ongoing riot to get here," Summer said, focusing on his left ring finger.

_No wedding ring, _she noted.

The man sighed. "Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. Thank you anyway."

With that, he turned on his heel and began to walk away, clearly disappointed. Summer watched him go, suspicious, only relaxing when she saw him disappear around a nearby corner. Only when he was gone did she allow herself to relax.

It lasted for all of two seconds before she heard a loud crash come from around that corner, followed by a man's shout.

Immediately, she jumped up. "Sir?!" she shouted. A few seconds passed with no response. Her heart plummeted as images of the worst possible scenario filled her head. It was possible that he'd simply slipped and fallen, but then again he was a human walking around in the middle of a riot filled with violent Faunus… Summer bit her lip as she wrestled between going to investigate or staying behind and hoping someone else came along to help. Ultimately, empathy won out over pragmatism, and she wasted no time sprinting from her spot in the doorway over to where she last saw him.

As soon as she rounded the corner, she was met with a fist the size of her head, which hit her directly in the face and sent her flying back into a building. Hastily, she picked herself up and assumed a fighting stance, then shook the stars from her head just in time to duck under another haymaker from the biggest man she had ever seen before. She lashed out with a right hook to his face; it connected, but his head didn't even move, and she was forced to leap back to avoid a retaliatory strike.

"Stop holding back," the suited man from earlier said as he stepped up next to the giant, pulling a gauntlet of some kind over his arm. "We need to finish this quickly."

"Right," the giant said, reaching for a raw Lightning Dust crystal he kept on a bandoleer across his chest. Summer's eyes widened as he stabbed himself in the chest with it. If it hurt, he showed no indication of it; instead, he stood up straighter, his muscles somehow growing even larger than they were before, with electricity dancing across his body.

Without her weapon, this fight was hopeless. She immediately turned and ran, reaching for her scroll in the same motion, only to be stopped by a blast of Ice Dust that froze one of her feet to the ground. Another shot froze her scroll solid.

"You won't get away that easily," the smaller man said as he loaded a fresh Dust cartridge into his gauntlet.

"What do you want?" Summer asked, struggling to free her foot as the giant man approached.

She received no reply aside from a punch to the face that sent her flying back towards the front of the hospital.

* * *

Ruby tossed and turned in the bed, desperately trying to block out both the sounds that were coming from outside and the fear that her mother hadn't returned yet. Ruby knew that there was likely nothing to worry about – her mom was really strong, after all – but she couldn't help but worry. Between her mother's extended absence and the loud, scary noises outside, she was terrified.

The thought of opening the door and going out just to take a peek crossed her mind once more, but she pushed it away. She had been told to stay put and keep the door locked, and until she was told otherwise, that was what she would do.

There was a loud bang outside, followed by a woman's shout. Ruby's breath caught in her throat, and her eyes widened. She clutched at the covers tightly and sniffled, wanting nothing more than to receive some sign that everything was okay.

...Surely just a peek couldn't hurt, could it?

Tentatively, the little wolf Faunus crept out of bed and approached the door, and with shaking hands, she unlocked and opened it, then stepped out into the hall. There was another bang, which made her jump; her heart was pounding in her chest, but she wasn't about to go back until she saw her mom. Hesitantly, she rounded the corner.

And then she screamed.

In the middle of the room was her mother, her white cloak torn and bloody. Her right eye was tightly shut, with blood dripping down into it from a gash in her forehead. Her left arm hung limp at her side, crooked at an unnatural angle, with the bone poking through her skin. She was covered in deep gashes, her breath was coming out in harsh rasps, and she was lightly swaying from side to side.

In front of her were two men, one giant and the other more normal-looking, who both turned to look at her in surprise at the same time Summer did. Ruby met her mother's gaze, and without missing a beat, Summer gave her one final command.

"Run!"

She didn't need to be told twice. Ruby turned and began to sprint away as fast as her legs could take her, running through the hospital halls in desperate search of an exit or a place to hide. Behind her, she heard her mother scream a challenge to the two men, demanding that they finish her off instead. Tears filled the little girl's eyes when she realized that her mom was allowing herself to be hurt in order to give her a chance to escape.

Ruby burst through a pair of double doors and found herself in what looked like a parking lot filled with ambulances. A quick look around revealed a way out into the streets in the form of a narrow alleyway towards the back of the parking lot. Ruby wasted no time in running over to it, but just as she reached it, the doors she had come through earlier came flying off their hinges. She chanced a look behind her, and to her horror, she locked eyes with the giant, who wasted no time in charging after her.

A terrified sob escaped her as she turned and continued running. She had no idea where to go in order to escape, but anywhere was better than letting him catch her.

She emerged from the alley onto a city street littered with debris. Frantically looking around, she saw flashing lights around a corner, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that there might be a police officer nearby. She rounded the corner just as the big man came out of the alley, and to her terror, while the flashing lights did belong to a police car, it had been overturned and abandoned, and there were no officers in sight. However, she could hear lots of people shouting in the distance, so maybe one of them could help. Quickly, she took off towards the noise.

She made it just a few steps before she became aware of the fact that the big man had almost caught up to her by now.

She could hear his breath behind her. At best, he was only a few feet away. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that he was going to catch her, and everything her mother did was going to be for nothing. Added on top of all the other emotional turmoil she had gone through recently, plus the fatigue and exhaustion she was feeling, it was too much. Something was going to give.

As it turned out, it was the limits of her own body.

Warmth erupted in her chest and began to spread all throughout her. Her fatigue suddenly disappeared, replaced with a wave of rejuvenation that left her feeling refreshed and energized. A faint red glow surrounded her, and for just a moment, she felt stronger than she ever had before in her life.

And then she was running, faster than she had ever run before – faster than she had ever seen _anyone _in her family run before. Buildings passed by in a blur, forcing her to navigate based solely off of what she could see in the peripheral of her vision. Her winter cap blew off, but she paid it no mind; she certainly wasn't about to go back for it. Unable to hear anything through the wind in her ears, she found herself attempting to search for people by sight rather than sound; as hard as it was to see anything, it was all she had, as it was downright impossible to hear anything.

Whatever had caused her sudden burst of speed, it only lasted a short time – she came to a stop a few seconds later, the red glow disappearing and her body suddenly feeling even more tired than it had before. But for now, it was enough – her hearing had come back, and even though the sound of her own heartbeat pulsing in her ears was overpowering, through it all she was able to tell that she had lost the man chasing after her. But there was no time to rejoice; he was still looking for her, and she still needed to help her mother.

She took a step and bit back a shout when the back of her leg erupted with pain. Tentatively, she tried her other leg, and was met with the same result. Tears filled her eyes, as much of pain as they were of fear. She could barely move, yet she had to, lest she end up captured by her pursuer. Frantically, she looked around for someone she could call to for help.

By sheer luck, she found them.

There were four of them, all standing in a nearby alley, leaned against the wall. Through the darkness, Ruby could see that they all had ears similar to hers, but not quite the same. Each of them was wearing a scary-looking mask, and they all looked very mean.

But they were the only chance she had.

"H-help!" she screamed, her throat flaring up in pain from a combination of the freezing cold and her own exertion. "Please, help me!"

The four of them all whipped around to look at her in surprise, and for a moment she was afraid that they might be working with the big man. That fear only lasted for a moment, as they all quickly stopped whatever they were doing in favor of running over to her.

"Kid, what do you need?" one of them asked. "Did the cops hurt you? Are you alright?"

"M-my mom!" she said, her voice coming out hoarse. "Hospital! She needs help! A big man hurt her really bad and then started trying to get me! Please help her!"

Her vision suddenly began to darken, but through it, she was able to see one of the men nod in understanding, then point to the others. "You three head over there and see what's up. You see that guy, you cap him. Go!"

The three of them took off running towards the hospital, leaving just the two of them. He quickly picked her up, then took off running in the opposite direction from where his friends went. He was talking to her as he ran, but Ruby wasn't paying any attention; she was beginning to feel really woozy and lightheaded, and it was getting hard to stay awake.

Just before she passed out, she thought she heard him mention something called a 'safe house'…

* * *

When Ruby awoke, it was to a pounding headache, and a searing pain in her legs. She blinked, trying desperately to ignore the pain in her head as she looked around the room she was in. It was small, consisting of little more than a bed and a desk lamp, and absolutely none of it looked familiar to her. For just a second, she wondered what she was doing away from the hospital.

And then it all came rushing back.

In the blink of an eye, Ruby was at the door, trying desperately to open it. It was locked from the opposite side, however, leaving her trapped. Images of the man who chased after her filled her head, and she began to pound on the door as hard as she could.

"Let me out! I need to find my mom!"

There were loud footsteps from outside, as well as what sounded like the jangling of keys, and then the door swung open. To Ruby's surprise, it wasn't the big man, nor was it her mother, or even any of the four men who had helped her. Instead, it was a completely new person – a pretty, dark-skinned lady with stripes all over her body that made her look like a tiger.

Normally, Ruby would have been delighted to meet someone new. Now, the woman was in her way, and she was on a mission. Ruby tried to run past her, but the woman reached down to stop her.

"Whoa, there!"

"Let me go!" Ruby cried, thrashing around to try and escape her grip.

"Calm down," the woman said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then let go!"

"I will if you promise to sit down and talk with me."

"No! I need my mom!"

"She's who we need to talk about," the woman said. "Please, just speak with me for a little while. I promise that afterwards, I'll do whatever you want me to. But for now, we need to talk."

Ruby stopped struggling, instead looking at the woman in surprise. To her confusion, the woman was looking at her sadly. The wolf Faunus swallowed nervously, then nodded in understanding. She received a sigh of relief, and then the woman motioned towards the bed she had woken up in. The two of them sat down next to each other, and then the strange lady gave her a small smile.

"That's better. Now, why don't we introduce ourselves? My name is Sienna Khan. I'm twenty-four years old. What's your name?"

"R-Ruby Rose. I'm five."

"Ruby Rose? That's a very pretty name." Sienna looked at her ears. "And you're a wolf Faunus?"

Ruby tilted her head, confused. "Faun-us?"

Sienna nodded. "Yes." She pointed to her own ears, and then her stripes. "I'm a tiger Faunus. Do you know what kind of Faunus you are?"

Ruby thought for a bit, then shook her head and gave Sienna a funny look. "'m not a Faunus. I'm Ruby."

A look of understanding crossed the older woman's face. "Ah, I see. Forget I asked; it's not important."

"Is that what we had to talk about?"

Sienna sighed, then shook her head. "No. I wish that was it, but I'm afraid it's not. It's about your mother."

Ruby felt her heart flutter. "Mommy? You know about her? Is she okay?"

"Yes, I do, and..." Another sigh. "No, she's not."

This time, her heart skipped a beat. "W-what…? S-she was hurt, b-but the doctors could fix her..."

Sienna gave her a look that was filled with as much pity as it was sorrow. "I'm sorry, Ruby. There was nothing they could do."

"...T-then she needs other doctors," Ruby said, her voice growing more panicked with every word. "She can g-get better..."

"There was nothing _anyone _could do, Ruby. There's no easy way for me to say this, but she didn't make it. She's gone."

"G-gone…?" It came out as no more than a whisper.

Sienna nodded solemnly. "I'm so, so sorry, honey. I wish things were different, but they're not. Your mother is dead."

Ruby stared at her, numb. The whole world suddenly felt as if it were a fever dream, or a nightmare she had yet to wake up from. She blinked once, and the world was still there. Sienna's words echoed in her mind, and she looked down at the floor as she tried to process what they meant.

Her mother was gone, and she could never come back.

A sob broke free from Ruby's throat. It was joined not a second later by another. She futilely wiped at her eyes in an attempt to stave off what was coming, but it changed nothing.

Two sobs soon became three, then four, and from there, it was inevitable. Sienna gently wrapped her arms around her as she started to cry, the weight of what she had just been told only heavier with every passing second. All thoughts of running away were gone; all Ruby could do was let her emotions pour out of her.

"It's okay, sweetie," Sienna gently said, never breaking the hug. "Let it out."

She did. For hours, she did nothing more than sit wrapped up in Sienna's arms, crying uncontrollably. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, her tears began to taper off, until they were little more than sniffles. Only then did Sienna finally let go of her.

"I'm sorry," Sienna repeated, speaking for the first time in hours. "I never knew your mother, but from all I've heard, she was an excellent Huntress, and an even better mom. The world is worse off for losing her."

Ruby sniffed, then looked down at her feet. "Wanna go home..." She muttered sadly. "Want my daddy and my big sister..."

Sienna frowned. "As much as I want to take you to them, I'm not sure that's such a good idea with the big man running around."

The wolf looked at her, terrified. "I-is he after them…?"

"I don't think so," Sienna quickly added. "Three of my men were able to get a glimpse of him, but he got away. I sent a tip to the police telling them who to look for, but I don't think anyone has seen him since last night. In any case, he hasn't returned to the scene. I think your family is safe."

"T-then why can't I go back…?"

"Because while they might be safe, you're not," Sienna replied with a frown. "Like I said, my men only got a glimpse of him, so we don't know much. You, on the other hand, got a chance to get a good look at him. Are you okay if I ask you a question?" Hesitantly, Ruby nodded. Sienna pointed to her ears. "Did he have ears like you and me, or a tail, or something that people who look similar to you or your mother might have but that other people don't?"

Ruby thought for a bit, forcing herself to hold back tears when images of the man filled her head. Slowly, she shook her head.

Sienna sighed. "That's what I was afraid of… I'm sorry to say that I think I know why you and your mother were attacked."

"Y-you do…?"

"Unfortunately. You see, there are two kinds of people on Remnant – humans and Faunus. Faunus are people like you, me, and your mom." Sienna pointed to her ears for emphasis. "We have extra animal parts that humans don't have, like ears, or claws, or a tail. We also have better senses than humans. The other people, humans, look similar to us, but don't have animal parts at all. Does this make sense?"

Ruby nodded. Sienna continued, "Unfortunately, most humans don't like Faunus very much. Sometimes, they try to hurt us, just because we're different than them."

"Why would they do that?" Ruby asked.

"Humans don't like the fact that we're not completely like them. In fact, they never really have. We've always been second-class compared to them."

Ruby looked down at her feet again. "B-but my daddy, my uncle, and my sister don't have animal parts, and they were never mean to me..."

"They're the exception," Sienna replied. "Can you name another human besides them that you spend a lot of time around?"

"N-no."

"Do you know why that is?" Sienna asked, prompting Ruby to shake her head. "It's because they knew that other humans would treat you badly if they met you. They kept you away from humans outside your family because they didn't want you to get hurt."

Sienna could see the gears turning in the younger girl's head. After a few seconds, Ruby looked up at her. "...So, I can't go back because the big man will try to hurt me, but they're safe…?"

Sienna nodded. "That's right."

Ruby paled, looking as if she might start crying again. "W-when can I go back? I don't want to be away from them for very long..."

"That depends. The way I see it, you've got two options. You can wait for him to get caught by the police, but given how easily he slipped away, that will take a very long time. It might not be safe for you to see your family again until you're all grown up."

Sienna could see tears forming in the young girl's eyes, and quickly added, "But there's another way."

Ruby sniffed. "What is it?"

"If you became strong, you'd be able to fight him yourself. You wouldn't have to worry about being attacked because you could beat him."

"Strong…? But he beat Mommy, and she was the strongest..."

"You could be even stronger than that," Sienna pressed. "If your mother was like most other Huntresses, she didn't start training until she was much older than you. If you started training sooner than that, and with the proper teacher, you could be better than her."

"Don't know how to train..."

"I can help with that," Sienna said, taking her by surprise. "I know someone who would be happy to train you. You could stick with me and my friends, and sooner than you know it, you'll be a strong Huntress, just like your mom. It will be hard, but wouldn't it better to know that if someone tries to hurt you like that again, you could fight them off?"

Ruby looked uncertain. "Mommy and Daddy said not to hurt other people..."

"Even if they try to hurt you first?" Sienna asked. "Ruby, this man killed your mother for no reason other than because she was different than him. You were lucky to get away, but your luck won't hold forever. Eventually, you'll find yourself in the same situation again – maybe not with the same man, but the fact is, someone will be trying to hurt you again in the future. You need to be able to defend yourself, because one day, it'll just be you and them, and if you don't know how to fight, you'll end up dead." She gave Ruby a sympathetic look. "Your father and sister have already lost your mother. They don't want to lose you as well, but they can't help you with this. Do you really want them to feel the pain of losing you, as well as her?"

Ruby felt her eyes begin to water and quickly wiped at them before shaking her head. "H-how long until I can see them again?"

"That depends on you. It will take years of hard work to get you to the point where you can return to them without fear, but it will still be faster than hoping the police catch the man who attacked you."

"Can I talk to them while I train…?"

"If you do, you'll be making them a target. He isn't interested in attacking them, but if he knows that they're a soft spot for you, there's no telling what he'd do. He might go after them just to try and draw you out." Sienna took her hand. "I won't lie to you: if you agree to this, it will mean spending many years away from your family, doing nothing but incredibly difficult training the whole time. However, if you train hard and don't give up, it will pay off faster than you realize. You'll be back home in no time, and not only that, but you'll be a strong Huntress just like your mom was. And the only thing I ask for in return is that if I ever need you to do something to help me or my friends, that you do it. You'll be getting stronger, and helping me at the same time. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Tentatively, Ruby nodded. Sienna smiled at her. "Then, is that what you want?"

Ruby thought for a bit, then nodded once again. Sienna's grin widened, and she pulled the younger girl into a hug.

"I promise that you won't regret this," Sienna said. "I just know you'll end up doing great. Now, I have to go call a friend of mine – he'll be the one training you. For now, why don't you get some sleep? I'll have someone bring some food for you when you wake up."

"Okay..." Ruby said softly, before climbing under the covers. Sienna stood up and walked over to the door, only for Ruby to call out to her. "Hey, Sienna? Thank you."

Sienna paused, then gave her another smile. "Anything for you, Ruby. I'll see you in a few hours."

"'Kay..."

With that, Sienna stepped out into the hallway, softly closing the door behind her. Ruby stared up at the ceiling, uncertain. From what Sienna had told her, she had made the right choice, but something about it felt wrong. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was making her uncomfortable.

Rather than focus on it, Ruby turned on her side to face the wall, trying desperately to fall asleep.

Memories of her mother kept her up for a while, but eventually, sleep took her, even through her tears.

* * *

As soon as she was in her office, Sienna pulled out her scroll, searching for the first number on her contacts list, apprehension at the forefront of her mind. Convincing Ruby hadn't been easy, but compared to what she was about to do, it would look like a walk in the park. The scroll rang once before the person at the other end picked up.

"_Sienna," _came a gruff voice on the other end. _"What do you want?"_

"I need to talk with you."

"_Then get on with it."_

"In person," she implored. "Trust me, it's important."

A pause. _"I'll be there in twenty minutes. I trust that you're not wasting my time __when there are other matters I need to attend to__."  
_

"I wouldn't dream of it."

With that, the line went dead. Sienna breathed a sigh of relief, then placed her scroll down on her desk before taking a seat in her chair, trying to prepare herself for the upcoming meeting.

Knowing him, she would have to spin it correctly. Thankfully, she had spent all the time until Ruby had woken up thinking of exactly how to deliver the news to him. Hopefully, it would be enough to make him see things her way.

Assuming he didn't let his past get in the way, that is.

Exactly twenty minutes later, there was a knock at her door. Sienna rose from her seat and opened it, coming face-to-face with him in the process. He wasted no time in pushing past her and into the room, waiting for her to close the door behind him before leaning his weapon – a sword with a chainsaw blade – against the wall and turning to face her.

Even if she hadn't known exactly what he was capable of, he would still have been intimidating. He stood approximately six-and-a-half feet tall, and even through his winter clothing, it was clear that he was built like a brick wall. Brown eyes gazed at her, as much with impatience as they were looking for a weakness to exploit in the event they came to blows – something that had intimidated her when she first met him, but which she had quickly learned to do her best to ignore, given that he did the same to everybody. Two long fangs poked out from the top of his mouth next to his upper incisors, and even from this distance, Sienna could have sworn that she saw them dripping with venom. What little skin he had exposed was darkened and sun-kissed, owing to the fact that until recently, he had spent most of his time in Menagerie.

It was almost hard for her to believe that he had only joined up with her little group a few months ago. Already, his contributions to the cause stretched far wider than nearly everybody else.

And unlike everybody else, the path he had left was covered with blood.

Scowling, he crossed his arms over his chest. "You called me here, now get on with it. I have things to do before we leave."

"Of course," she said, reminding herself to stick with the script she had thought up as best as she could. In this case, it called for being as blunt as possible. "I found you an apprentice."

"I never told you that I wanted an apprentice."

"I made the decision for you. You're incredibly effective at what you do for us, but even you can't hit two targets at once. Surely you can see the value in having someone follow in your footsteps."

"On a certain level, perhaps. I still consider it a waste of my time. I can accomplish far more on my own in the time it would take to turn them into something other than a waste of oxygen. Not to mention that you have no way of ensuring they stay loyal."

"That's not a concern. She's young – very young. Her mind is still malleable. With the proper education, I think you'll find her far more dedicated to the cause than everybody else here."

"How young?"

"Five."

He scoffed. "What, did you pick a random gutter rat off the street and promise her a family? I fail to see what she has to offer us."

"Her aura and semblance are unlocked."

That earned her a pause. "You've confirmed this?"

She nodded. "Had the medic look at her when we brought her in. He confirmed it himself."

"Did someone unlock it for her?"

"Far as I can tell, no. Everything points to her unlocking it herself. From what I learned talking to her, it sounds like it awoke on its own when she was running away from somebody who was trying to kill her."

He uncrossed his arms. "...Perhaps I was a bit quick to judge, then. Maybe there is some potential there after all. If nothing else, she's resourceful enough to warrant a closer look. Do you know who she is?"

Sienna frowned. This was going to be the hardest part. As much as she wanted to lie, she knew better than that. One way or another, he would find out the truth.

That didn't make it any easier to say, though.

Hesitantly, she spoke.

"She's Summer Rose's daughter."

Immediately, he scowled. "Absolutely not."

"Almost-"

"Get rid of the girl," the man – Almost – spat. "I refuse to have anything to do with her. You're lucky you're so valuable, otherwise I would have broken your neck just for bringing her mother up."

"Are you kidding me? I've already talked with her and convinced her to join up with us and learn from you! She's ready, willing, and given that her mother was murdered by a human right in front of her, she has motivation to spare!"

He glared at her. "When I first joined up, you asked me to tell you everything I knew about fighting Huntsmen. I did, and at your request, I even included parts I would have otherwise left out, all under the condition that none of it ever be brought up or revealed to anyone, myself included. Yet here you are, doing exactly that."

"Think of the potential, Almost," Sienna pleaded.

"It means nothing," he snapped. "Whatever potential she may have had has been ruined by her mother. The girl is a lost cause."

"You don't know that!"

"I know more than you think I do. This conversation is over."

He turned on his heel and began to walk away, only for Sienna to block the door.

"Wait," she pleaded. "I think you're writing her off too soon. Like I said, she's still very young – whatever she's been taught, we can undo. Think about it – she's only had, what, maybe a few years of indoctrination at most? I've secured her loyalty for exponentially longer than that. That's a lot of time to mold her into what we need her to be."

"Get out of my way."

Desperate, Sienna played her final card.

"You can turn her into everything you wanted her mother to be."

He paused before turning to look at her, his lips curled back in a snarl. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. With you training her, and me educating her? There's nothing stopping you from making her into everything Summer should have been. Just imagine it – the perfect warrior, unbound by feelings of compassion for humanity beyond a few family ties, with nothing but zealotry in her heart for our cause and a willingness to do plenty of wet work to further it. You can't tell me that doesn't appeal to you at least a little in terms of sheer pragmatism."

He paused again before turning back to her, his glare still harsh, but tempered slightly. "I will give her a chance to impress me. One year, and no more. If she proves sufficient, then we will move on. If not, then I expect you to get rid of her."

"I can dump her on her father's doorstep," Sienna offered. "You'll never see her again."

"Not good enough," he grunted. "She'll know too much about us, and unlike the others, she will be fully aware of what we're capable of, and will have no fear of revealing our secrets. If she fails to meet my expectations, there is only one fate for her."

Sienna stared at him, her expression grim, before slowly nodding. "If that's your price, then fine."

"Just like that? Whatever you see in her must be promising if you're willing to cross that line so easily."

"I think you'll find her more than just promising," Sienna replied. "Given enough time, she might even come to surpass you."

"Perhaps we'll see. It all comes down to her."

He said nothing more, instead picking up his weapon and leaving almost as quickly as he came. Sienna watched him go, then shut the door behind him before slinking down into her chair, her head held in her hands.

For Ruby's own sake, and for the sake of the White Fang as a whole, she hoped the girl managed to surpass all the expectations that had just been set for her.

* * *

**Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to take a look at this first chapter. **

**This is something I've been working on since last November. I've spent a lot of time trying to get it as right as possible, and I've finally gotten it to a point where I feel like it's mostly fit for human consumption, rough around the edges as it may be.**

**This is my first foray into non-crack writing, so I'm sure that it'll end up pretty rough, but I'm writing this as a way of practicing so I can write better material in the future. If you have any tips, critique, or advice you'd like to provide in order to help me with this, I'd very much appreciate it, but please only do this if you really want to – I don't want anyone to feel like they're being forced into giving me feedback if they don't want to.  
**

**A word of warning: as you can see, I'm very wordy. I'm trying to improve with this, but it's going to take some time. Please just bear with me and my overly verbose nature until I figure out the proper way to say more with less.**

**Another word of warning, this one much more important than the last: there are going to be some pretty drastic changes to Ruby's character in this story. I won't spoil anything, but they're big enough that I feel compelled to try and justify them as best as I can. To this end, the next couple of chapters will be primarily dedicated to trying to accomplish this and have it make at least a little sense. Basically, I'm going to look at Ruby's character on a fundamental level, try to determine exactly what I think it would take to change her into the Ruby in this story, and then explore that as fully as I can. This is going to take a couple of chapters, during which I'll also be doing a bit of worldbuilding, as well as providing a look at some of the other characters that will be important to this story besides Ruby (trust me when I say that you know exactly who they are). From there, we'll get into the story you're all actually here for. Please be patient with me on this; I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't feel that it was absolutely necessary to Ruby's character in this story. I will do my best to at least make it entertaining, but again, I've never written anything except crack, so I'll make no promises. **

**One final word of wording: this fic has been a work-in-progress since November 2018. As such, it was being worked on before we knew anything about Volume 7. Therefore, some things might not match up exactly with the show's events post-V6. I will do my best to keep things as consistent as possible, but I have no doubts that some things are going to slip through the cracks, either because I simply missed them or because correcting them would compromise the rest of the story.**

**On another note, something tells me my first review is going to contain a comment about me having poor pacing, and they're probably going to be absolutely right.**

**With all that said, thank you once again for reading, and I hope to see you next time in chapter 2.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 2

* * *

The house stood alone, tucked away in a clearing within the woods. Once, it had been bright and lively – the wood had been close to pristine, the paint had looked as fresh as the day it had first been applied, and the whole house would have seemed to project a welcoming atmosphere all on its own, independent of the people who lived there. On a good day, the sound of children laughing as they played nearby and a woman gently humming as she watched over them would have been present to help complete the experience.

Now, it was as dead as the grass that surrounded it.

Whatever joy had once been present had faded years ago. Now, the house was run-down, the wood chipped and the paint faded. Worst of all, it was dead silent.

The only thing Qrow could hear was the sound of his own footsteps on the dirt as he walked through knee-high weeds to get to the patio. Reaching the front door, he fumbled around in his pocket for a key before inserting it into the lock and turning, then pushing his way inside.

If the outside of the house was dead, then the inside was buried. Dust covered nearly every square inch of the interior. The whole house stank, as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. Peeking into the kitchen from the entryway, Qrow could see dirty dishes piled high in the sink, flies buzzing around them.

The only sign of life that was immediately apparent was a lone picture hanging from the wall in front of him, which defied the odds by being completely immaculate – the colors hadn't faded, the glass frame wasn't cracked, and there wasn't a speck of dust on it. Qrow slowly approached it, taking it in his hands to get a closer look at it.

Looking at it was like looking into a memory… or, given the circumstances, at a ghost. Staring back at him was Summer, a wide grin on her face as she sat with her arms looped around her two girls. Both the girls were laughing at something – what it was, Qrow had no idea. It didn't matter; they were all happy, and that was all he cared about. It was a remnant of their time together, before illness and violence had torn them apart – a bittersweet reminder of what had been lost.

A speck of dust floated down and landed on Summer's face, and Qrow quickly brushed it away with his thumb. Someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to keep this picture in pristine condition despite the state of the rest of the house, and he wasn't about to let anything ruin it.

Staring at it, all he could think of was her. It never mattered how she had dressed, or if she had makeup on, or even if she was sick – Summer had never looked anything less than absolutely radiant when she was surrounded by her daughters.

And now she was gone. Not only that, but one of her daughters was, too.

With a heavy sigh, Qrow gently put the picture back in its rightful place before wiping away unshed tears he didn't even know had filled his eyes. Once that was done, he turned away from the picture, unwilling to waste any more time by losing himself in memories.

He had a mission he had to accomplish, for the good of what was left of her family.

Qrow stepped into the living room, and immediately found what he was looking for. Empty whiskey bottles littered the floor around the unkempt figure, who was lying prone on the couch, half their body thrust off the side in a tangled heap. The raven-haired Huntsman sighed before walking over and shaking them awake.

"Get up, Tai. We need to talk."

Groggily, the blonde man cracked open one eye. "Qrow…?"

"Yeah, it's me. Sit up."

Slowly, Tai did as he was told, hissing in pain and grabbing his head when he finally managed to get himself into a seated position. Qrow ignored it, instead taking a seat in a recliner across from him.

As bad as his hangover was, Tai would get no sympathy from him.

Tai coughed, attempting to clear his throat. After a few tries, he seemed comfortable enough to talk.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here because yesterday was Ruby's birthday."

Tai rubbed his unkempt beard with one hand. "You knew how I'd be spending it."

"Trust me when I say that I've come to terms with the fact that nothing I say is going to stop you from getting shitfaced and clearing the whole island of Grimm, both on that day and on your anniversary. And I get it – you're a grieving man who's been through a lot. But the time for that has passed."

The blonde's gaze narrowed. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I'm not gonna let you mope around anymore, because there's something else that's just as important that you're ignoring."

"Moping? _Moping?! _Do you have any idea what I've lost?!"

"Do you?" Qrow snapped. "Answer me this, Tai: when's the last time Yang talked to you at all?"

Tai eyed him with contempt, but as he pondered Qrow's question, it quickly gave way to surprise. Qrow sighed irritably.

"You don't know, do you?"

"...Not exactly," Tai admitted. "But it can't have been that long."

"She didn't call me last night," Qrow replied. "Do you know what that means?" Tai shook his head, and Qrow continued, "Every time you've disappeared over the last three years, she's called me in a panic, worried about you. Last night was the first time she didn't even try. And in case you're too hung over to understand what that means, I'll spell it out for you: your daughter has officially stopped caring about you."

"That isn't true!" Tai protested.

"Oh, it isn't? You can't even remember the last time she talked to you, idiot! Wake up!" Qrow gestured to the room around him. "Look around you! This whole place is a complete shithole – you can't even be bothered to do basic cleaning, yet somehow I'm supposed to believe that you're still giving Yang the attention she needs?!" Qrow sighed angrily before leaning back in his chair. "It's been three fucking years, Tai. I've tried to be a good friend and give you some time to grieve, but I can't anymore. You need to stop crying and be there for Yang, no matter what."

Tai looked away. "...I can focus on her after I've found Ruby."

"Focus on her aft- are you listening to what you're saying right now?! That's your daughter, moron!" Angrily, Qrow stood up, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him to his feet before meeting his gaze and glaring at him.

"Look, I get that you're sad. Okay? I get it. I'm sad, too. I also get that you want to find Ruby more than anything. I do, too. So does Oz, and Glynda, and everyone else we know. But you're spending all your time trying to either hunt her down or drinking yourself to death, and it ends now. You need to focus on the daughter you can actually help now, or else you're going to drive her away forever, and then you really will be alone. And if the next words out of your mouth so much as imply that that's what you want, then I will take Yang and leave, and I'll find someone who's actually capable of being a parent to her instead of a broken man like you. So whatever you're going to say, it had better be smarter than everything else you've said to me since I got here."

Tai looked away, then sighed. Qrow let go of his collar and watched as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "...I just don't know what to do, okay?" Tai said. "It's just… Summer being gone hurts, but as bad as it is, there's at least some closure there – she's gone, and she's not coming back. But Ruby being missing is even worse, because I know she's out there somewhere, but none of us can find any trace of her no matter how hard we look. Even Oz doesn't have anything. I just know that if I look a little harder, I can find something to point me in the right direction..."

As much as Qrow hated to admit it, that was a long shot. The two of them, along with several other Huntsmen from Beacon and personal family friends, had scoured all throughout Remnant and found nothing. Even Menagerie, where Summer had been a bit of a local celebrity, had left them with nothing, no thanks to the fact that even her 'fans' were unwilling to be seen talking to humans, regardless of if those humans were her family.

Whoever thought that racism wasn't a two-way street had clearly never been a human looking for something in Menagerie. Even the Belladonna family, who had been friends with Summer, had been no help, though admittedly that was through no fault of their own – they had tried as hard as the others had and still come up with nothing. The whole situation was simply hopeless.

Qrow sighed, knowing that what he was about to say was going to cross the line. Still, it needed to be said.

"Then maybe it's time for you to stop looking."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Qrow found himself forced to dodge a flurry of enraged haymakers from his friend. After several seconds, the assault ended, leaving him standing across the room from Tai with his arms raised in front of his chest in surrender while Tai glared at him, his hands balled into fists.

"Fuck you," Tai spat. "You think you can come into my house and tell me that? You're either really brave or really fucking stupid."

"Or maybe I'm trying to be your friend and tell you what you need to hear, no matter how much you don't want to hear it," Qrow countered. "It's been three years, Tai. Three years without so much as a trace of evidence pointing to where she might have ended up. And despite how much you want it to be true, searching twice as hard isn't going to change anything any time soon."

He pointed to the ceiling, at the spot where he knew Yang's room was. "But there's someone else who needs your help, and as bad as I've made things sound, it's not too late for you to patch things up with her. And if that's not enough to convince you, then I guess you're not the man Summer thought you were, because more than anything, she'd want you to make sure Yang was okay first."

At the mention of Summer's name, Tai faltered. He slumped over slightly, and his fists uncurled before lowering down to his sides. He blinked, then looked back to Qrow, his expression hollow.

"...Damn it," he said, before sighing. "You're right. I hate that you are, but I can't deny it." Another sigh. "...What should I do, Qrow?"

Qrow stepped over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Much as it pains me to say it, I think you're done searching for Ruby, tough guy. I think it's time you let the rest of us pick up the slack, because you've got something else that's just as important to focus on right now." He motioned towards the stairs. "Go to her. If she's got even a little bit of Raven in her, she won't make earning her forgiveness easy. But if you don't try your damnedest to win her back, then she'll be lost to you forever."

The words hung in the air for a few seconds before Tai slowly nodded. "You're right," he repeated. Hesitantly, he stepped towards the stairs before stopping. "What are you going to do?"

"Clean up a bit, because this place is a mess," Qrow said. "Maybe get breakfast started for you two once I've made it a bit less of a pigsty."

"Not for you?"

Qrow shook his head. He was already in the process of having his breakfast, if it could be called that. "Don't worry about me, big guy. Focus on what's important."

Tai nodded in understanding, then slowly began to ascend the stairs. Qrow waited until he was completely out of sight before casting a glance back at the picture hanging in the hall. With a heavy sigh, he retrieved his flask from his back pocket and drained what was left of it in just a few big sips.

That was breakfast out of the way, then.

A small part of him was reminded that Summer would be disappointed, but that didn't matter. It wasn't like she was here to call him out on his drinking.

Then again, if she was, he wouldn't be drinking in the first place.

Wiping a few drops of cheap bourbon from his lips, he put his flask away before doing his best to focus on the task at hand.

Anything to keep his mind off of what he had lost three years ago.

* * *

Tai stood outside of Yang's room, worried. From what Qrow had said, it seemed like she didn't care about him anymore, and while he was trying to prepare himself for facing the reality of what that entailed, the truth was that no amount of preparation would be good enough.

On the other hand, given just how neglectful he had been, he deserved however she decided to treat him.

Sighing, he made up his mind. Waiting around and feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to fix anything. The best remedy would be facing it head-on and getting it over with.

Softly, he opened the door to her room, being careful not to wake her in case she was still asleep. Taking a quick look inside, he could see that she hadn't woken up yet. A quick glance over at the nearby alarm clock made him wince.

10:34 in the morning. Apparently, she had stopped caring about school at some point, too. Assuming he managed to win her back, he would address that later. For now, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

Carefully, he walked over to her bed before reaching out with one hand and gently shaking her shoulder. Her eyes steadily opened, widening in surprise when she saw him, only to narrow in disgust before she turned away from him to face the wall without a word.

Tai felt the last shred of optimism he had wither and die. Still, he wasn't going to give up.

"Yang, honey, I'm so sorry," he began. "I can't even imagine how you must feel after all this time. I was an idiot, I couldn't see what was important, and you suffered for it. There's nothing I could ever do to make that okay, and I won't try to ask for your forgiveness. But I want you to know that I'm going to be there for you now, okay? Whatever you need, I'm here."

She muttered something, causing him to frown. Leaning in, he asked, "What was that?"

"...Get out..."

Tai paled. "Yang-"

"I said get out!" Yang shouted, turning to face him, her eyes flashing red for a second. "What, you think you can just come in and say sorry, and that you're here for me or whatever, and then I'll just be happy to see you?! Well, fuck you! You don't care about me! I hate you!"

"That's not true," Tai protested.

"Not true? _Not true?! _Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get you to notice me?! But you never did!" Her lower lip began to tremble, and her voice began to waver.

"All I wanted was for you to be there for me. Mom's dead, and Ruby's gone, and I needed you, but you didn't care. You never cared."

"You're wrong," Tai insisted. "I might have been too blind and stupid to show it, but I do care. That's why I'm here now. I've already lost Ruby and Summer, and I'm about to lose you too, and I don't want that to happen. Yang, you're my daughter, and I love you."

Yang sniffled, then crossed her arms. "You do a really shitty job of showing it."

"You're right," Tai admitted. "I was too blinded by grief to see what I was doing to you, and that's something that I'll be lucky to spend the rest of my life making up for."

"What, do you want me to give you a chance?"

"I don't deserve one, but I'd like nothing more. If you're willing to let me try, I'll do whatever it takes to be there for you. And you can consider that a promise."

Yang looked away. "…All I wanted was for you to be there. How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know that you won't just turn your back on me and ignore me again?"

"Because I'm pushing everything else away in order to be with you," Tai replied. "No matter how important it is, you're more important. I didn't realize that before, but now I do. If it will come between being there for you, then it doesn't matter."

Yang looked at him, surprised. "What about finding Ruby?"

"...I'm done looking for her," Tai admitted. "Qrow and the others will keep searching, but my part in it is over. Much as it pains me to say, I can't spend my time looking for Ruby and also being a parent to you."

She looked conflicted. "...Then, you're giving up on her…?"

Tai shook his head. "No, but I am putting the search on hold. The fact is, she's not here, and as long as that's true, there's nothing I can do for her. But you are, and unlike her, I'm actually capable of being there for you now. That means you take precedence." He sighed. "It hurts to say that I'm not going to be looking for her for a long time, but one day, when you're much older, I will again. Maybe if I'm lucky, you'll be right there with me."

Yang was silent for several seconds before looking at him again. "What happens now?"

Taiyang scratched the back of his head. "That depends on you, Yang. If you're willing to give me a chance to be your dad again, then I'll start proving I meant what I said. If you still hate me, then I'm not sure. Qrow said he'd take you out of here and find someone who's actually capable of being a parent to you. If that's what you want, then I won't stand in your way."

She considered it for a moment, then to his immense relief, she shook her head. "This isn't me forgiving you," she warned. "I'm still angry, and sad, and not sure what to think. But if you're willing to prove everything you said, then I guess I can give you one chance."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Yang. I promise I'll do everything in my power to be a good dad to you, from now on."

With that, he stood up. Part of him was disappointed that she didn't try to hug him, but it was probably still too soon for that. Even if she was only ten years old, she wasn't about to forgive and forget that easily.

"...Did you have anything in mind about how to do that?" Yang asked tentatively.

"I did. Some of them you won't be a fan of, like going back to school."

She looked down. "...I've missed a lot," she admitted. "Sometimes I'd wake up and be too sad to get out of bed. I'm probably really far behind."

Tai winced, knowing that was his fault. "Then I'll work with you and help you get to where you should be."

"Even if it takes a long time?"

"Even then," he promised. "And for that matter, I'm going to start helping you be less sad."

"How?"

"I have some ideas. For one, do you still want to be a Huntress?"

Yang looked surprised, but she nodded all the same. "...Does this mean you'll let me start training?"

"If you want, I can be the one training you," he offered. "You'll be starting a bit later than most, but that shouldn't be a problem. Plus, we'll be able to do more training than you would with a private instructor."

Despite what had happened at the start of their conversation, Yang couldn't help but be a little excited. "Can we start soon? They already unlocked my aura at school."

Again, Tai winced, disappointed with himself. He would never forgive himself for not being the one to unlock her aura and share that moment with her. "We can start whenever you want. If you want that to be today, then it will be today. Just give the word."

Yang seemed to get even more excited at that, but without warning, her expression suddenly fell. Instantly, Tai was at her side, holding her hand.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, it's…" She sighed. "...I was just thinking about how Ruby would react if she was here. She'd probably be so excited, and begging you to train her, too..."

Tai felt a bolt of pain lance through his chest at that, but kept it hidden. "I think you're right," he admitted. "But we can't worry about her right now. One day, we'll find her, but that isn't today. Today, it's about you."

"I know, it's just… I just want to know that she's okay."

"I'm sure she is," Tai insisted. "We both know her well enough to know she's nothing if not a little ball of sunshine." He swallowed as memories of her from happier times filled his head, trying to regain control of himself.

"I know she's fine," he said after a moment's pause. "Wherever she is, I know she's okay."

He squeezed Yang's hand, and to his relief, she squeezed it in return. The two of them sat there together, losing themselves in thoughts of their lost family member, hoping beyond hope that he was right.

The alternative was too terrifying for them to even consider.

* * *

Ruby doubled over in pain as her mentor's fist plowed into her solar plexus, shattering her aura and bringing her to her knees. Her weapon fell from her grasp onto the desert sands below as she clutched at her midsection, desperately trying to catch her breath.

The night before had been her eighth birthday. Like with the two before it, she had been given a gift. Slowly, yet as fast as she was able to, she reached down to her hip with one hand to try and pull it out of its holster, but her mentor beat her to it. With a single grasp, he had her wrist in one of his hands, and squeezed. For just a moment, Ruby was afraid that he would break it, but all he did was apply just enough pressure to force her to let go of her handgun. A wave of relief passed over her as he let go of her wrist.

It died when he drove his fist into the left side of her chest.

A loud crack filled the air as Ruby went flying back several feet. She landed on her uninjured side, rolling several times before finally coming to rest on her injury. As fast as she could, she rolled onto her back to stop it from hurting so much, trying her best not to cry the whole time.

If there was one thing she had learned over the last few years, it was that crying just made things worse.

Fresh pulses of pain lanced through her injured chest with every heartbeat. Her breath came out in short, ragged gasps, and it hurt to even move. Still, she squirmed around, trying to force herself to get back up.

A shadow fell over her, and her heart sank as she realized that she was in trouble.

"Get up," her mentor commanded.

Ruby tried to do as she was told, attempting to roll onto her stomach to push herself up, but every movement only made things worse. Even moving a few inches was out of the question.

Her mentor glared at her. "I said get up. Do you think your enemies will care that you're hurt? If you can't fight through the pain, then you're not worth my time."

Ruby tried again, this time fighting through the pain enough to roll onto her stomach. After a few seconds trying to psyche herself up, she began trying to push herself up off the ground. Her first attempt barely got her a few inches up before her arms collapsed beneath her, bringing her crashing down onto the sand below. A fresh wave of pain coursed through her torso, and this time, she felt tears begin to spill down her cheeks.

Still, she wasn't about to give up. She was too scared of what her mentor might do to risk giving up.

Once again, she placed her hands beneath her and pushed, trying her hardest to lift herself up. This time she was more successful, and after several seconds she had gotten far enough to add her knees into the equation, eventually being able to put all her weight on them instead. With one hand clutching her injured chest, she pushed herself up using her legs, then shakily turned towards her mentor.

He looked unimpressed, as usual.

"I'd tell you to get back into the ring, but with how you are now, you'd be worthless," he spat. "We'll work on that more next week."

Mercifully, he bent down to retrieve her weapons for her, sparing her from having to double over to get them. It didn't stop him from turning back to her and thrusting them into her arms, but the few moments of relief it brought were worth their weight in gold.

"Your fundamentals need work," he stated, motioning to her weapons. "You're predictable, you're consistently off-balance, and you're messing up even basic techniques. The one smart move you made was going for your gun when I disarmed you, but you were slow. For your sake, I hope your shooting is better than your close-quarters combat."

With that, he turned away from her and began walking towards the makeshift gun range that had been set up. Ruby quickly followed after him, limping and gasping for breath the whole way, while at the same time trying to stow her weapons properly. Her handgun was easy – just slip it into its holster and it was done.

Her scythe, however, was a different matter.

Ever since she had gotten it a year ago, it had been nothing but trouble. It was difficult to use, both because of its inherent design and because Almost wasn't a scythe user; his knowledge only extended as far as providing her with dated training manuals on how to use it, along with general bits of information he claimed to have picked up from a scythe user a long time ago. The end result meant that Ruby spent a lot of time trying to learn how to use the weapon on her own, followed by a lot of time being demolished in spars against him when she tried putting what she had learned into practice.

He wasn't even fighting her with his own weapon yet, instead forcing her to fight him while he was unarmed. Even then, she still had yet to land a single clean hit on him, despite the fact that she had been trying to for a year.

Of course, he had provided a rationale for forcing her to use a scythe – according to him, scythes were extremely uncommon weapons, and as such, few people knew how to properly defend against them, which would give her a huge edge in combat – but Ruby still had yet to see the value he had seen. If anything, she wanted to use a sword. If he had wanted to, he could have taught her how to use a sword easily, meaning she'd be a lot better off than she was now.

That, and on a more personal level, it would make her feel like she was following in her mother's footsteps.

Pushing those thoughts from her head, Ruby finally managed to collapse her weapon into a more manageable form and hook it onto the small of her back – no easy task considering that it was old surplus, and whatever metal it was made out of, while lightweight, didn't seem to want to play well with the magnetic plate on her belt. She finally managed to get it secured in place just as Almost stopped in front of the shooting range. He dropped his backpack from his shoulders and opened it, revealing it was filled with magazines and boxes of .45 caliber bullets.

"You're running the pistol course," he informed her. "The better you do, the sooner I'll let you go get your broken ribs treated. Anything less than perfect and you're running the course again. Understand?"

Ruby nodded. As much as her body was screaming at her to disagree and go get treated instead, she knew better than to risk making him mad. When he got mad, he became truly terrifying.

That was saying a lot, because even when he was normal, he was still one of the scariest people Ruby had ever met, rivaled only by the man who had murdered her mother and nearly gotten to her.

Wordlessly, she bent down, and – ignoring the pain in her chest from doing so – filled her pockets with spare magazines for her gun before looking to him for further instructions.

He crossed his arms. "Good. You know the drill – approach the starting line and wait for my command."

Again, she nodded and did as she was told, stopping just behind the starting line and looking out over the gun range in front of her.

It was a makeshift range, but it was all they had – despite how active they were at raiding SDC shipments, they were still a small group, and as such, they didn't have the means to improve it. The construction was rough at best, though still as functional as they could make it, even if it was about as low-tech as it could get. Instead of actual walls, old tires piled high and stuffed with sandbags served as backstops to catch any stray bullets. Steel targets dotted the area, most of them in the shape of humans but some little more than circles attached to either spinners or dueling trees. Occasionally, bigger human targets would be hidden behind smaller Faunus targets – signified by fake ears glued onto them – with only their heads exposed, in order to approximate a hostage situation.

The first few months spent running through this course had been rough. Ruby had never even held a gun before arriving in Menagerie, let alone shot one, and it had showed – most of her shots had completely missed, though somehow she had managed to hit every single Faunus target.

Naturally, she had been chewed out about that for a very long time. Now, though, she was much more proficient with firearms. The only question was if she was good enough to get through the course with broken ribs.

As she stood facing into the area, black spots dancing on the edge of her vision, her chest screaming in pain, and barely able to breathe, Ruby suddenly had serious doubts about her abilities.

"Begin," came Almost's voice.

As fast as she could move, her right hand was at her side, drawing the gun from its holster and bringing it up to point at the first target. The front and rear sights aligned, and Ruby squeezed the trigger; a fraction of a second later, the ringing of steel greeted her. It joined the ringing in her ears that the gunshot itself had caused. With no aura to protect her sensitive hearing and no ear protection, she could tell that it only take a few shots before she was temporarily deafened. Hopefully, it wouldn't come back to bite her while she ran through the rest of the course.

Doing her best to ignore both the old pain in her chest and the new pain in her ears, Ruby advanced, gun at the ready. Rounding the corner, she came face-to-face with another target a few feet away, and quickly fired off two shots. Her first missed entirely, but her second was a direct center-of-mass hit.

Continuing on, Ruby turned to her left and limped over to where the next target could be found. This one was roughly twice as far away as the last one. Again, she brought her pistol up, but at the last second her injury flared up in pain, causing her to jerk the trigger and miss entirely. She hissed, blinked away tears that were forming in her eyes, and did her best to align her weapon's sights properly. This time, she didn't miss.

At the ringing of steel, she moved on to one of the dueling trees. By this point, the ache in her torso was unbearable – every step sent waves of pain lancing through her upper body. Coupled with her ringing ears and rapidly forming headache as a result of the gunfire, she had slowed down to a snail's pace. Still, she had to do her best.

Limping towards the dueling tree, she took aim at the three targets on the right side. The first one took two shots; the second, only one. The slide locked back on her pistol, and she wasted no time in swapping the empty magazine for a full one and hitting the slide release before taking aim at the last target, hitting it on her first try.

Her head throbbing in pain, she took aim at the left side, but her vision suddenly started to blur. Her grip on the gun slackened, and before she knew what had happened, she had dropped it on the ground.

She had just enough time to realize that she was now unarmed before she lost consciousness, collapsing in a heap next to her discarded gun.

* * *

"You're too hard on her."

Almost rounded on her, snarling. "She is my apprentice, and I will train her how I see fit. That was what we agreed to after her first year, and that is how it will continue."

Sienna bristled, but held her tongue. "I understand, but she's too young for what you're putting her through."

"The sooner she learns to handle the things I throw at her, the better off she'll be," he countered. "The fact that you can't seem to understand this is troubling. And here I thought that you were willing to do anything in pursuit of the cause."

"I am," Sienna hissed through gritted teeth. "That's why I inducted her into our group in the first place. But I also recognize that progress isn't made overnight. It takes careful guidance and a steady hand."

He said nothing in response, causing her to sigh. Reaching for the glass of bourbon on her desk, she poured out two fingers and passed one over to him. He downed his in one gulp; she gingerly sipped at hers, trying to savor the taste of the neat liquor as best as she could. After several seconds, she spoke again.

"You're satisfied with her progress so far?"

He didn't respond immediately, instead reaching for the bottle and pouring himself another glass. "She isn't completely hopeless."

Almost didn't say anything further. He didn't need to; Sienna knew him well enough to know that such a statement was akin to a glowing endorsement from him.

"She will be if you continue to be this hard on her," Sienna said.

He glared at her. "She may not be completely hopeless, but right now, she's still useless. She needs to toughen up."

"I know. The problem is that she's still delicate right now." The earned a scoff from him, which in turn caused her to give him a harsh look. "I don't mean it in the sense that she's weak; I mean it in the sense that she's still a child. She just turned _eight_, Almost. A bit too early for her to start learning some of your harsher lessons, don't you think?"

"I've told you my plans for her."

"That you want her to be out doing wet work by the time she's thirteen, yes."

"You agreed with me," he reminded her.

"Because I couldn't afford not to. Our opposition grows stronger by the day, and the instant we take over the main group, they will only get stronger. Every day we wait weakens our position even more. Raids and executions are good for sending a message, but to really cut out the rot, it requires a more delicate touch. Unfortunately, the longer we wait to do that, the more entrenched it becomes."

She sighed. "I wish we had more time, but if we haven't started winning any big victories after the first couple of years we're in control, then there's no hope for us. Our followers will begin to lose faith in us the same way they are for Ghira right now, and then it will only be a matter of time before someone else rises up in our place. And then, after seeing just what we're capable of, humanity will take advantage of our moment of weakness to strike back."

"Then you understand why I'm training her the way that I am."

"I do, and I still disagree," Sienna replied. "She's still young. When you hurt her like that, I have my doubts as to whether she fully understands the value of it. She might say she does, but does she really? And if she doesn't understand why you're doing it, she's going to come to her own conclusions, not only about you, but about me, and the White Fang as a whole." She knocked back the rest of her drink before setting the empty glass down. "Do you get what I'm saying?"

He nodded. "You think I'm turning her against us."

"Do you think I'm wrong?"

He looked like he wanted to argue, but stopped himself. "...No," he admitted. "How big of a problem do you think this could turn into?"

Sienna shrugged. "I don't know. Right now, I think she's still loyal if only because of what we've told her will happen if she isn't. But that could easily change as she gets older." Sienna paused to reach for the bottle again. "...Perhaps this is something best solved on two fronts rather than one."

"Explain," he demanded.

"Part of it is simple – hold off on your more harsh training until she's a bit older," Sienna replied. Again, he didn't argue, which she considered a small victory. "Once she understands why you're hurting her, it shouldn't be a problem. A few years should be all that takes. In the meantime, focus on some of your other skills. Surely there are things you could teach her that don't involve sending her to see a medic."

"I was hoping to give her a solid foundation with close-quarters combat before moving on, but there are," he said. "Most of the other skills aren't as important as teaching her how to fight against Huntsmen and Specialists."

"Then teach her those, and come back to your harsher lessons later."

Reluctantly, he grunted in understanding. "And the second part?"

A small smirk crossed Sienna's face. "That's where I come in." She poured herself another shot and downed it before turning back to him.

"I think it's time I take her education up a notch."

* * *

For as important of a function it served, the camp's hospital was incredibly underwhelming. Consisting of little more than a big tent, a few beds, and some medical equipment stolen during raids, it was ill-equipped to deal with more than a small handful of patients at one time. This was always a problem after raids, often forcing them to head into Kuo Kuana to find a sympathetic doctor rather than rely on the camp's sole medic.

Thanks to their limited access to medicine and equipment, often the only thing the medic could do was provide the injured with painkillers, bind their injury, and wait for their aura to take care of the rest.

Such was the state Sienna found Ruby in. Upon entering the tent, Sienna found her sitting up in bed, holding a pack of Ice Dust against her ribs. When she saw Sienna, her mood instantly improved, her ears perking up in happiness.

"Hi, Sienna!" she said happily, wincing and clutching at her injury as she did so.

Sienna frowned. "Take it easy, Ruby. You need to be careful while you recover."

"Ah, sorry… I'm just happy to see you!"

The tiger Faunus flashed her a smile. "I know." She walked over to stand next to Ruby's bed. "How is training going?"

Ruby winced again, though not due to pain this time. "...It's hard," she admitted. "Every day, I train 'til I ache all over. My aura fixes it while I sleep so I don't feel it when I wake up, but then I have to do it all over again the next day… well, 'cept for Sundays, 'cuz those are rest days. We do other stuff on those days, though."

"Like what?" Sienna asked, genuinely curious.

The wolf Faunus shrugged. "Whatever Almost wants me to learn, I guess. Sometimes he teaches me how to use different guns. Other times I learn new skills. Two weeks ago he taught me the basics of tracking and hunting, and last week he taught me how to field dress an animal." Her face scrunched up in disgust, and she shuddered. "It was really gross… He made me shoot the deer myself, then had me cut it open and take out all of its nasty guts."

"You shot it yourself?" Sienna asked. "Impressive."

Another shrug. "Not really… We were only about fifty yards out, and he had me do it with the proper gun – some kind of lever action. I think it was a .500 magnum? Really big bullet, and it had a scope on it so the shot was easy. Just dialed it in like he taught me and pulled the trigger." She frowned. "Don't tell him, but even in practice, I didn't like that gun very much – it was heavy, it hurt my shoulder, and it was really loud."

"It'll be our little secret," Sienna promised, earning a sigh of relief. "Did you eat the deer after?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah… but I wasn't all that hungry, 'cuz I had to field dress it first." She frowned once more. "I don't understand why he's making me do some of these things if they don't make me better at fighting."

"Whatever he's teaching you, he has a reason for it," Sienna replied. "Trust me. I know him well enough to be sure that if there's one thing he hates, it's having his time wasted. If he didn't think what he was teaching you would be important later on, he wouldn't be teaching it to you."

"But why?" Ruby asked. "What does hunting animals have to do with making me stronger? Why do I have to practice on so many other guns when I already have one of my own? Why did he-"

She caught herself, but Sienna realized what she was trying to say regardless.

"Why did he have to hurt you?" Sienna finished. Ruby hesitated, then nodded. The tiger Faunus sighed. "I think this requires a bit of an explanation. Mind if I sit down? This might take a while."

Ruby nodded, and Sienna gave her a grateful look before taking a seat at the end of her bed. Sienna was silent for a few seconds, then began speaking.

"Do you remember what I said that night in Atlas, when I offered to take you in and give you training?"

The wolf thought for a bit, then said, "You told me that in return, I would have to do something if you told me to do it. But you never told me what."

"Yes, that's right," Sienna replied. "I never told you what because I didn't want you to get the wrong idea about what we do."

"W-what do you mean?" Ruby asked. "I thought everyone here was a good guy..."

"We are," Sienna said firmly. "But our methods can be a bit extreme."

"So… what do you do?"

Sienna exhaled sharply. "Before I can tell you that, I think you need to understand the world we live in. Do you remember the things I've been teaching you during our time together?"

"Aside from math and stuff? You keep telling me about how the humans don't like us for being Faunus, and how we're mistreated."

"Correct. But I've never told you just how far that goes. I had a reason, of course – I didn't think you were ready to hear just how bad things were. But now, I think it's time to help you understand."

Sienna pulled out her scroll, opening a folder full of photos before handing it to Ruby. The little wolf Faunus took it before looking up at Sienna for further instruction, and at the older woman's insistence, began to scroll through the images.

She only made it about three images in before dropping the scroll out of shock.

"W-what is this?!" she asked, her eyes wide. "Is this real?!"

Casting a glance down at the scroll, Sienna saw which picture Ruby had stopped on. It was one that was well-known among all Faunus, not just her faction of the White Fang. The picture was of the inside of an SDC 'company town', as they were called – mining camps that were so large, they had essentially coalesced into their own miniature systems of local government, though each one was still bound to the company itself.

The image on the screen, taken covertly and then passed along from person to person until it made its way onto an internet service not monitored by the company for dissemination, showed the interior of a prison within one of these company towns. It depicted several men, dressed in clothes and armor bearing the SDC's logo, holding down a prisoner as they branded him with the company's logo – a common punishment for those who dared to try and campaign for improvements in their working conditions, it was essentially the company's way of reminding their workers who they belonged to.

Sienna sighed. "Unfortunately, it's very real."

"H-how?" Ruby asked. "How could they get away with that?!"

"Those men work for the Schnee Dust Company," Sienna pointed out. "That means they work for not only the biggest, wealthiest, most powerful company in all of Remnant, they work for the most essential one as well – the SDC produces everything from Dust-powered electric toothbrushes to high-explosive artillery shells. I've even heard that they're working on robots for the military and private security.

"Even if they didn't have the money, power, and prestige to bury any allegations of wrongdoing that come their way, many of the people in power either agree with their treatment of us, or are too afraid to speak out since they know the SDC can easily get them kicked out of office in some way, either by funding a political opponent or by digging up some blackmail on them. And even if that weren't the case, they're still the most important company on Remnant – anything that makes them worse off makes the world worse off, because suddenly they're less capable of giving the people what we need to defend ourselves against the Grimm. At least, that's the public perception." She sighed irritably. "Basically, as far as normal people are concerned, they're untouchable for one reason or another. There's nothing anyone is willing to do to help."

"But that can't be right!" Ruby protested. "There has to be _something_ we can do!"

A smirk tugged at the corners of Sienna's mouth. "Indeed, there is. That's where we come in."

She picked up the scroll and opened another folder, this time bringing up a collection of newspaper headlines. Handing it back to Ruby, she watched with growing satisfaction as she saw the young girl steadily read over every word.

"'SDC shipment robbed,'" Ruby repeated. "'Council member steps down after evidence discovered of Faunus mistreatment. Mine attacked – guards, manager injured; Faunus workers freed...'" She looked up at Sienna in wonder. "What is this?"

"This is what our organization does," Sienna said proudly. "We do what everyone else on Remnant is too afraid or too unwilling to do: take the fight directly to groups like the SDC and the people who support them, all to get revenge and save our people."

"But… isn't what you said still true?" Ruby asked. "If the SDC gets attacked, doesn't that make things tougher for everyone else?"

"It does," Sienna admitted. "But you have to ask yourself if the alternative is better. If this world is one where people are allowed to essentially enslave another group of people just because of how they look, is it truly one worth living in? If the state of the world can only be safely maintained by humanity crushing us beneath their boots, is it really worth defending? Is our right to be treated as equals not worth fighting for, even if it causes suffering in the short term? If it isn't, then how can we expect to live in harmony with a species that refuses to see us as anything more than just animals?"

"I don't know..." Ruby said hesitantly. "That's a lot of questions, Sienna… I don't think I understand."

Sienna's gaze softened. "Let me put it to you this way: these SDC workers you see, along with all those people who support them that I told you about? If it were up to them, you and your mother would have been torn away from your family and put to work in their mines for the rest of your lives."

Ruby flinched at that, and Sienna, knowing she had found a weak point, pressed on. "You two would have been separated even from each other, so you would probably never see each other again, either. You would both be worked until exhaustion every day for as long as you lived, until you died at a young age from disease or overwork. There would be no hope and no future for either of you, and if either of you tried to change that, you would be imprisoned, or tortured, or killed. And if that sounds like it could never happen, let me assure you that not only are there people high up in the SDC and the Atlesian government who want to see it happen, but it's already happening for lots of us, like that man you saw in the picture. Does that sound like the kind of world that's worth defending?"

Trembling, Ruby shook her head. "N-no..." she replied, her voice quiet.

"Then you have your answer," Sienna pointed out. "That's why we fight – because if we don't, that's the future that awaits all of us. And if us fighting for our right to be treated as something other than slaves means that all of Remnant has to bear the burden, then that's just a price that we'll have to accept paying, because the alternative is even worse. I can't speak for you, but I think I can speak for everyone else here when I say that I'd rather suffer a fast death by Grimm than a slow death by overwork."

Ruby was silent, instead casting another glance down at the scroll. She stared at it for a few seconds before turning back towards Sienna, her expression uncertain.

"And… you want me to attack the SDC alongside you?" she asked tentatively.

"In a way," Sienna admitted. "The job I have in mind for you is a bit different, but in many ways, it's much more special and important."

"How important?" Even through her trepidation, Ruby couldn't hide the sense of awe in her voice.

"Extremely important," Sienna emphasized. "I can't tell you exactly what you'll be doing just yet, but trust me when I say that without you, it will be almost impossible for us to achieve our final goal of being treated as equals. You do trust me, right?"

Ruby didn't even hesitate before nodding. Sienna had to force herself to hold back a smirk.

"Then, do you understand why Almost is training you in all those things?"

"I think so," Ruby replied. "He's trying to prepare me for what I'll be doing in the future, 'cuz he wants me to fight against the SDC with you."

"Not just the SDC," Sienna carefully pointed out. "They're the main targets, but there are others, too – the people who support them or their ideas, for example." She gave Ruby a careful look. "Will you fight alongside me, Ruby?" she asked. "For the good of our people, and for the good of the world?"

Again, to her delight, Ruby didn't hesitate.

"I will."

Sienna allowed herself a small smile. "I'm glad." She rose to her feet, collecting her scroll in the process. "Now, you need to get some rest. I've already talked with Almost and gotten him to agree to take it a bit easier on you for now, and in exchange he's decided to teach you something else."

At that, Ruby perked up. "What is it?"

Sienna's only response was to grin.

* * *

The enormous rifle kicked against her shoulder with an ear-splitting roar as it sent its deadly payload downrange at a speed almost three times that of the speed of sound. Ruby re-centered her crosshairs over the steel plate she had been aiming at, and couldn't hold back her satisfied grin at the flakes of brass on the black steel target.

"Hit," Almost reported, staring at the same target through his spotter's scope. "Now go for a headshot."

Ruby nodded before grabbing hold of the rifle's bolt, twisting it upwards and pulling it back. She watched as the spent .50 caliber casing was picked up by the extractor and then flung out of the chamber, spinning through the air a few times before joining a small army of its brethren in the desert sands a few feet away. The empty case now removed, she guided the bolt forward then downwards, locking it in place as the next round fell into position. The whole time, she couldn't hold back her smile.

Compared to the other guns she had used, this one was truly a work of art. Having disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled it many times before taking it out to shoot, she had quickly become aware that this rifle far surpassed all of them, not just in its size, but in its build quality as well. When it finally came time to zero the weapon, it had only taken one shot before she had fallen in love with it.

The gun itself was a sniper rifle, one that, on the surface, appeared ill-fitted for the environment it found itself in. It was completely white, a stark contrast to the endless desert browns that surrounded them. Beneath the surface, however, it was a finely-tuned instrument. It might have been long and heavy, to the point that Ruby had struggled to carry it on her own even with her aura giving her a slight boost in strength, but it made up for that in other ways.

The weapon's bolt action was incredibly smooth, offering just the right amount of resistance – just enough to require a small amount of effort, but not so much that it made it difficult or slow to operate under pressure. The trigger was two-stage, and it easily boasted the nicest takeup, break, and reset that Ruby had ever felt in a trigger before. To top it all off, the gun's kick was easily manageable despite firing such a huge bullet, which was as much because of its weight as it was the buffer built into the stock and the oversize muzzle brake on the end of the barrel.

Overall, Ruby suspected that this was going to be the nicest weapon she ever got to use for as long as she was with Sienna's group.

Which was just as well, because according to Sienna, it was _her _weapon.

When Sienna had called her into her tent a few days ago, Ruby hadn't been sure about what to expect, only that it would be amazing. Things had changed after she got out of the hospital a few weeks ago. Now, her training with Almost, while still hard and painful, wasn't nearly to the same level as the day he had put her in the hospital. He wouldn't explain why, but he did warn her not to get used to it, because she was about to start learning something new when the time was right. That was all she was able to get out of him about it – past that point, his lips were sealed.

Sienna, of course, had been equally as tight-lipped, only offering her a smirk and a promise that she would find out soon enough whenever Ruby asked her about it during their studying sessions together.

Needless to say, when Sienna had woken her up early in the morning that day and asked her to come to her tent, Ruby's expectations had been through the roof. They had been hyping this up for weeks, so she couldn't help it. Ruby couldn't remember ever getting so excited unless it was her birthday or the Winter Solstice.

Even then, she never could have imagined just how much they would exceed her expectations.

The last thing she would have ever thought of was another gun – she had just gotten her own pistol for her birthday, after all – and she _especially _never thought of getting one that looked as nice as this one. She had no idea what Sienna had paid for it, but if Ruby had to guess, it looked like one of those presents she could only get if she tried to pile every birthday and Winter Solstice gift for the next few years into one big present.

Despite her excitement, she had forced herself to tell Sienna that it was too much and that she should take it back, but Sienna's only response had been to laugh and promise her that the price wasn't an issue, since it was a 'once-in-a-lifetime moonlight requisition, straight from Specialist McJackass' private armory'.

Ruby wasn't sure what any of that meant – and she didn't approve of the bad word, either – but something told her it would probably be better not to ask any questions about it.

Besides, if that guy was anything like the SDC men she had seen in the picture – and she had no reason to believe that he wasn't like them, because why else would Sienna's group have targeted him – then he deserved to be robbed.

Something flicked her on the side of the head, and she turned towards where it had come from to see her mentor glaring at her.

"Take another shot already, unless you want me to assume you'd rather do a few more rounds of hand-to-hand."

Ruby paled and immediately looked through her scope again, aligning the crosshairs on the center of the target's head before squeezing the trigger. The rifle roared once more, followed by a ringing of steel.

"Hit."

A satisfied sigh escaped her. Now _this _was the life. If she could, she'd sit here and shoot at this target all day, every day. Anything to get out of physical combat and training with Almost.

Sienna may have forced him to tone it down, but Ruby still thought that he was really scary.

Not that she'd ever tell him that.

She dreaded to think about what would happen when he decided that her sniping skills were good enough for them to move on to other things, especially if they involved hurting her again. He had warned her that eventually he was going to hurt her both so she could learn how to fix herself up in the field and so she could learn to fight on despite being in severe pain, and the idea of going through that terrified her, for two reasons. The first was obvious – it was going to hurt a lot, and she was going to have to deal with it on her own, without the medic's help.

The second was that he always seemed to enjoy hurting her a little too much.

It might have just been a trick of the light, but when he had broken her ribs a few weeks ago, she could have sworn she saw him crack a small smile. There were other times where his expression seemed to soften whenever he landed a good hit that sent her sprawling or gasping for air, but that had been the most obvious.

What that meant, Ruby had no idea. It wasn't something she was going to bring up to him for obvious reasons, and it didn't seem important enough for her to bother Sienna with – after all, Sienna had arranged for him to train her in the first place, so she was probably already aware that he really liked fighting. Ruby bringing it up to her would just be telling her something she already knew.

Besides, it probably didn't mean anything bad. In fact, it was probably a good thing that her mentor enjoyed fighting so much – that meant he knew what he was doing, which would make him a really good teacher. So, really, she should be thankful that he seemed to like hurting her, since it meant that he was training her better.

...Somehow, even in her eight-year-old mind, none of that made any sense, but it wasn't worth worrying about when she still had ammo left.

_Bang! _

"Hit."

Ah, bliss… This moment might not have been one that would last forever, but she would make sure to enjoy it while she still could.

Because something told her that even without including the training she was going through, the hard times had yet to truly begin.

* * *

**So there's chapter 2. Not much to say about the chapter itself. It's pretty dry, but again, there's a reason for that. I wanted to show some of Ruby's training, as well as establish a few things regarding Almost. I also wanted Sienna to start kicking her "education" up a notch, which was going to take some convincing in order to get Ruby to go along with it willingly. We'll have a few more chapters like this before getting into the real meat of the story. **

**Next update: Saturday, December 21. It will probably be posted late at night, as I will be traveling on that day. If possible, I will try to post it while I wait for my plane to arrive, but I won't make any promises. **


	3. Chapter 3

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 3

* * *

Jacques Schnee was not a pleasant man. For as long as Weiss had known him, this had been the truth. Everything he did, he did for the benefit of the Schnee Dust Company. The man made no secret that the SDC was where his love and ambition started and ended, and that everything else was tertiary to running the company. Even his own family was no exception – he had made them all aware of that fact two years ago, and once that was done, he hadn't even been bothered to try and keep up appearances around them. Knowing all of this, Weiss should have been familiar enough with how he acted that whatever depths he decided to sink to shouldn't have come as a shock to her. And yet somehow, he continued to surpass her expectations every time.

Hence her hesitation.

Weiss stood outside of her father's study with her arms clasped behind her back, staring at the large, oaken doors before her with trepidation. Her father had called her in so she could provide him with updates about her studying and training, and despite having done this exact same thing for weeks ever since her tenth birthday two years ago, she was always at least a little bit nervous. Her father had a temper and didn't tolerate failure, and unfortunately for everyone, he had a very loose idea of what constituted failure. Needless to say, prior experience had made her painfully aware of how she could expect this meeting to go. At least, that was what she thought before arriving.

Then she had heard the yelling coming from his study.

While her father somehow always managed to surprise her with how low he could sink, it was at least possible to predict when he would decide to do it. Generally, he tended to be at his worst whenever he was having a bad day. Similarly, it was always possible to tell if he was having a bad day because on a good day, he maintained his stoic expression constantly. He never smiled; if something affected his mood, it was almost always in the negative sense. If his expression ever changed, it was because he was irritated or angry. Still, as angry as he sometimes got, he still managed to maintain a veneer of calm – he wouldn't raise his voice, but his words would take on a harsher and harsher edge until his true emotions were obvious even to those with no social skills.

So when Weiss heard him shouting into his scroll from within his office, it had shattered any hope she'd had of this meeting being anything but awful for her. Given some of the things he had done in the past, the very prospect of this was terrifying enough to make her want to turn on her heel and run away to try and avoid him, but she wasn't stupid enough to think that doing so would lead to anything but a much worse outcome for her.

No, she was going to have to deal with this head-on and just hope he felt like being lenient, however thin that hope was.

There was a muffled curse from behind the door, followed by the sound of something being slammed onto his desk, which caused Weiss to wince. Before she got the chance to consider her options again, there were footsteps, and then the door swung open, leaving her staring up at her father.

He looked terrible. His face was red, and he wasn't even attempting to hide that he was very angry. He gazed down at Weiss as if she was nothing more than an annoyance, then grunted and motioned for her to step inside.

"Let's get this over with. I have important things to do."

Weiss nodded, stepping into his study and standing in the middle of the room, arms once again clasped behind her back. Her father took a seat behind his desk and eyed her with a gaze that could pierce armor, as if daring her to try and lie to him.

He didn't have to worry about that. Past experience had told her just how stupid of an idea that was.

Weiss swallowed nervously, then began to speak.

"My combat training is progressing well," she reported, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "Though, I am having difficulty combining my glyphs with Dust-"

"And you consider this doing well?" Jacques asked irritably.

Weiss hesitated. "...Well, no, but-"

"Then why report it as such? Are you lying to me?"

"T-that wasn't my intention!" she protested.

"Then what was?"

"I was trying to show that there are other things I'm doing well."

"And what, you thought I would praise you for them?" Jacqeus questioned. "Why would I praise you for meeting my expectations? I only care if you exceed them or fail to meet them. Anything else is irrelevant." His eyes narrowed. "I don't have time to listen to you boast about being adequate. Either prove to me that you're worthy of carrying on as heiress or prove to me that I made a mistake, but do not waste my time any further."

Weiss bit back her reply, knowing that it would only make things worse. Instead, she nodded slowly. "My studies are going better than my combat training. My tutors continue to be impressed with my progress. Last week, you asked for a report specifically about my Dust chemistry class, since that was my most difficult subject, and I am pleased to announce that I have improved. I scored an eighty-five percent on my latest exam, and-"

"What did I just tell you?" Jacques snapped, causing her to flinch. "You're wasting my time."

"F-father, that's my hardest-"

"Do you think I care how hard it is for you? You are the heiress to the Schnee _Dust _Company – knowing the ins and outs of Dust is your responsibility. If you cannot master this simple task even on a theoretical basis, then clearly there's something wrong. Now, is it with your tutor, or is it with you?"

Weiss hesitated. Truthfully, it was her fault – no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't grasp the intricacies of the more advanced Dust mixtures. Her tutor was very patient and kind with her – a far cry from the strict academics that her father usually had instructing her – and Weiss liked her a lot for it, which helped a lot, but there was only so much they could improve without giving it time to sink in. Weiss really liked this tutor, but her father wasn't giving her a choice in the matter.

She sighed bitterly. "...It's my tutor's fault," she muttered. "She's too lenient with me. We don't work hard enough. If someone more strict was teaching me, I'd do better."

"Then she's fired," Jacques said absentmindedly. "I'll leave it to you to inform her of this. Consider it practice for when you take over." He considered his words for a moment.

"Sorry – _if _you take over."

Weiss winced. "Father, I'm trying my best-"

"Then your best clearly isn't good enough," he retorted. "Everything you're doing at this age, your sister was doing better. If I had the option, she would be heiress instead, but she got it into her head that joining the military was a better choice for her than working alongside me. I suppose if nothing else, that means you at least have a bit more common sense than she does."

"...She made the right choice," Weiss muttered under her breath.

Jacques rounded on her, his gaze smoldering. "What was that?"

Immediately, Weiss froze like a deer in headlights. "N-nothing, father."

That was a mistake made in haste, but a mistake nonetheless.

"Did you just lie to me?" Jacques asked, rising from his chair and approaching her. Weiss' heart plummeted, but she stood her ground regardless, knowing that running would only make things worse for herself. He walked over to her, then bent down until the two of them were staring at each other eye-to-eye. "Why don't you repeat what you just said? And before you lie to me again, you'd better think hard about what I can do to you."

Weiss swallowed nervously. She might be able to get away with telling him something innocuous, but it seemed to be equally likely that he would catch on and punish her even more severely for it. With anyone else, she might have taken the gamble, but she knew better than to try it with him.

"I… said that Winter made the right choice," she admitted, her voice small.

The next thing she knew, a loud crack filled the air as her head fell to the side. Weiss clutched at the spot on her face where her father had slapped her. Blinking away tears, she turned to face him, only to shrink underneath his gaze.

"Your singing lessons are canceled from now on," he said, his voice boasting a razor-sharp edge despite being completely even. "You are to be confined to your room until further notice and not to be let out unless it's for combat training. Your scroll is to be confiscated and you are not to contact Winter unless I tell you to. Do you understand?"  
Shakily, Weiss nodded. Her father straightened his tie before turning and moving back behind his desk, then taking a seat behind it and staring at her.

"It is difficult to say I am making the right choice in letting you stay as heiress when you keep making stupid mistakes like this," he said. "Your brother is young, but he is still less of a disappointment than you have been. I look at you, and all I see is wasted potential. Right now, you're worthless. The only reason I'm letting you maintain your position is because I think that you're willing to work hard to stop being so worthless, but I suppose we still have yet to see if I'm right. Still, I'm willing to give you a bit longer." He gazed at her once more. "At least you're not crying. I won't tolerate weakness coming from my heiress."

It was actually taking everything she had not to break down right then and there, but he didn't have to know that. Instead, she nodded in understanding.

Her father sighed. "Truly, this has been a difficult day. I had to fire one of my key employees due to poor production this quarter, I had to listen to one of my top-level executives report on how the White Fang is cutting more and more into our bottom line, and to top it all off, I had to listen to you report on your poor progress and listen to your sass." Another sigh. "Get out of here. You interrupted me while I was running damage control on the recent White Fang attacks, and I don't need you taking up any more of my time."

Weiss didn't need to be told twice. She nodded in understanding, then turned on her heel and stepped out into the hallway, closing the doors to the study behind her. She then began the long walk towards her room, doing her best to keep calm until she had gotten inside and shut the door.

Only when she was sure that nobody else would hear her did she let herself break down.

Her father was always difficult, but it was only recently that he had gotten this vicious. Weiss knew exactly why he had, too – it didn't exactly take a genius-level IQ for her to connect his changes in mood to the more frequent attacks on SDC shipments, mines, and personnel. Through her tears, Weiss muttered one sentence over and over to herself.

"Stupid White Fang… stupid Faunus..."

* * *

The frigid desert night chilled her to the bone, but she wasn't about to let that impede her mission. From her position atop a sand dune, Ruby gazed over at the nearby savanna, her natural night vision letting her see as though it were daytime. Through the darkness, she could make out a large group of them – Beowolves, about thirty, led by an Alpha. From behind her rifle, the wolf Faunus smirked.

This wouldn't be too hard.

She chose her targets, being careful to pick only the ones she knew she could hit on a dime. If luck was on her side, the pack wouldn't notice her until she'd had a chance to reduce four or five of their heads to black mist, but that was unlikely – there was a much higher chance that they would see her muzzle flash and come charging after her. She had anticipated this and set up several hundred meters away in order to give herself some time to react, but there were still a lot of factors that could go wrong – the sand was already going to be tough to maneuver in; her weapon could have its mecha-shift function impeded by dirt; there could be other Grimm she couldn't see waiting to stage a counter-ambush.

Still, she had been given a task, and it was her duty to carry it out. Failure wasn't an option.

Ruby took a deep breath, slowed her heartbeat, and centered her scope over an unfortunate Beowolf's head. A shot rang out, and a fraction of a second later, the monster's head was no more. The entire pack immediately stood up ramrod straight and began looking around, sniffing the air for any sign of what had killed their comrade. Ruby smirked, cycled her weapon's bolt, and aimed at the next one. A second shot, and another dead Grimm. Somehow, they still hadn't noticed her.

Apparently, luck was on her side.

Her grin grew even wider as she picked the next target. Just like the others, the .50 caliber round punched a hole clean through its mask before the explosive Fire Dust in the bullet's core ignited, detonating in a small localized explosion, completely atomizing the monster's head and leaving little more than a black-tinged puff of smoke behind.

This time, the pack noticed her. One of them quickly took off running towards her position, with the others in hot pursuit. Ruby was unfazed, instead continuing to calmly pick targets. By the time she felt like they were getting too close, another two Grimm had fallen just to her sniping skills.

Seeing that sniping was now out of the question, Ruby stood up and shifted her primary weapon into its alternate form. The sniper rifle began to morph in her hands, and in just a few seconds, she was holding a large scythe, completely black expect for its stainless steel, Dust-reinforced blade. With a loud cry, Ruby took off towards the horde with her scythe at the ready, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake.

When she hit the horde, it was as a spiral of death. Between her semblance and her scythe, anything caught within her attack had no chance – the blade screamed through the air, separating limbs from torsos and heads from necks. In the split second Ruby spent inside the horde before emerging on the other side, she had taken down a half-dozen of them. Not content with this, she angled her weapon behind her and fired off a shot, propelling herself forward for another attack.

It was almost unfair. She was much too fast for them to hope to catch. Ruby was almost becoming bored with how easy it was. Sure, by this point she had killed dozens of Beowolves in training alone, but this was a horde! Where was the challenge, the excitement? Compared to how hard Almost's training had gotten, this was like target shooting, or practicing against one of the newer White Fang members – completely mindless for her, and absolutely futile for her opponents.

With one final attack, Ruby emerged on the other side of the horde once more and dug in her heels, sliding across the sand for several feet before finally coming to a stop. She turned to survey the carnage and couldn't help but sigh disappointedly at what she saw.

The entire horde was now nothing more than a collection of severed limbs and dissipating bodies. Ruby let out a huff as she looked over the group.

"Aw, man… Didn't even get to cut loose..."

She kicked the ground dejectedly before sighing and reluctantly folding her weapon into its compact form and stowing it on her belt. A quick check of her scroll revealed that it was just after midnight – well before she was supposed to return to camp, owing to the fact that she'd had a lucky break and run into a caravan that had seen the horde, saving her the trouble of having to hunt it down over several hours.

At least she'd get to head back early to get some extra sleep.

Ruby turned away from what used to be the horde and began the long trek back to camp, but barely made it a few steps before she heard something sprinting towards her. She whirled around, hand on her scythe, only to be blindsided by the biggest Beowolf she had ever seen charging at her. It was clearly the Alpha – the markings on its mask, its enormous size, and the spikes on its back were proof enough of that. Somehow, it had survived the carnage, even if it hadn't emerged unscathed – deep gouges were scored across its entire body, and one of its arms was hanging by nothing more than sinew, dangling loosely at its side.

Still, with the element of surprise on its side, its injuries didn't matter.

Before Ruby had a chance to retrieve her scythe from her belt, the monster had leaped at her. The two of them collided, rolling for several feet before stopping, with the Grimm landing on top of her chest, driving the air from her lungs. The Alpha wasted no time in slamming its one good arm around her throat to pin her to the ground, then beginning to tear into her chest with its fangs.

Ruby let out a choked scream as the monster attacked, thrashing around and doing her best to escape before it managed to break through her aura and suffocate her or start ripping out chunks. She flailed around with her right hand, trying to get to her pistol, but it was caught within the folds of the heavy coat she was wearing. With her gun out of reach, Ruby resorted to trying to pry the arm away from her throat, to no avail. Through it all, the Alpha continued to bite at her chest, trying to break her aura. Feeling her aura coming close to breaking, Ruby looked around in a panic, trying to find something she could do to save herself. The monster, seeing that her struggling was beginning to die down, paused long enough to stare at her eye-to-eye, as if reveling in her fear.

That would prove to be a mistake.

Seizing the opportunity presented to her, Ruby thrust one of her hands forward, digging her thumb into one of the Grimm's eyes as hard she could. The monster roared in pain and anger and recoiled from the sudden attack, its grip around her slackening just enough for her to move. Ruby pushed her coat out of the way with one hand and with the other reached for her pistol, pulling it from its holster faster than she ever had before.

When the Beowolf stared down at her once more a split second later, it found itself looking down the business end of a .45. One final gunshot echoed through the night, and then it was over.

Ruby rolled out from under the dissipating corpse and shakily rose to her feet, taking several deep breaths to calm herself. She cast a glimpse down at the dead Alpha beneath her, and a grin crossed her face. She loudly cheered herself, pumping her fist in excitement and victory.

"Ha! How'd you like _that_, Grimm boy? I got you! It takes more than that to kill me!"

During training, Almost had tried his best to stop her from celebrating whenever she did something impressive – she had no idea why; according to Sienna, it was because he found it annoying more than anything – but she couldn't help herself here. It was her first solo mission without any kind of supervision, and not only had she successfully completed it, she had done so with time to spare.

Sure, the only reason she finished it so quickly was because of dumb luck, and sure, the Alpha had almost managed to take a chunk or two out of her, but she still did it. Sienna was going to be so proud of her.

Never losing her giddy smile, Ruby quickly holstered her pistol and dusted herself off, then began walking back towards civilization. She was going to have to give an after-action report, but it shouldn't take too long.

She was looking forward to a few extra hours of sleep, that was for sure.

* * *

Despite how late it was, the camp was bustling with activity. Sienna had only continued to recruit more and more people into her group ever since Ruby had joined, and she hadn't quite been able to take over the White Fang just yet, she was getting closer every day. More and more Faunus were beginning to look towards her for guidance instead of Ghira Belladonna, which even Ruby could understand – while his heart was in the right place, Ghira's methods were no longer effective. He was a relic of a previous era, and it would be better for everyone involved if he were to just step down and let someone willing to get their hands dirty take over instead.

At least, that was the impression Ruby got from most of the conversations she had heard around camp. She hadn't actually talked to anybody outside of Sienna's group for years, so her perspective on current events was somewhat limited.

Even within the group, she didn't really have anyone to talk to aside from Sienna and Almost, which often left her feeling very lonely. Pretty much everybody who saw her went wide-eyed and did their best to avoid her, which she couldn't understand. Sure, she had beaten most of them up during spars, but Almost did the same to her pretty much every day, so in her mind, that was no reason for them to avoid her.

Then again, maybe they were just embarrassed about losing to a ten-year-old, even with her brutal training regimen.

At the thought of her training, Ruby couldn't help but wince and rub a sore spot on her stomach. The grace period Sienna had provided her two years ago had recently expired, and now Almost was back to sending her to the medic almost every day. He hadn't quite started breaking her bones just yet, but it was only a matter of time.

At least the rest of her training was going well. Her shooting was excellent, and her scythe-handling and hand-to-hand skills were improving rapidly, to the point where she was now able to sneak in a hit or two against her mentor more often than not, which was a breath of fresh air after not being able to even touch him for years. It almost made the inevitable counterattack worth it.

Almost, but not quite.

Aside from that, Ruby had started picking up other skills as well. Her tracking, hunting, and wilderness survival skills were getting better by the day, and her long-range sniping was on its way as well – currently, she was able to make shots out to half a mile without a problem, and she suspected that eventually she'd be able to hit targets at well over a mile without issue.

Searching for Sienna's tent, Ruby rounded a corner and nearly ran into a pair of Faunus, who took one look at her and hurried away. A small, dejected sigh escaped her. Sure, her training was going great, but every day it was the same thing – she trained until she could barely move, then went and studied with Sienna for a few hours, and then went to bed to repeat the whole thing again the next day. The only hint of excitement she got was when she went hunting on the weekend, and that was always done by herself, at her mentor's insistence. Truthfully, she was beginning to miss being able to see other people besides Sienna and Almost. Most of all, she missed her father and sister.

Another sigh escaped her when she remembered that she still didn't know if Yang had even managed to beat her disease or not. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her that Yang was okay, that the doctor had expressed high hopes for her and that she was more than strong enough to come out of it alive, but until she laid eyes on her sister again, Ruby would always have to contend with the fear that Yang Xiao Long was no more.

And if that was the case, Ruby didn't know what she would do. Losing her mother had been hard – in fact, it still _was _hard; Ruby often woke up in tears, wishing her mom was still there for her – but losing Yang? That was horrifying on a level that Ruby couldn't even comprehend. For her whole life, Yang had been her best friend; losing her would be like losing a part of herself.

All the more reason to head back to Patch and find out what had happened to her as soon as possible.

_Maybe once I'm stronger, I can convince Sienna to let me head over to Patch and start up a cell there, _Ruby thought to herself. _I'd be helping our group, but I'd also be home. It'd be a win-win._

Of course, it would have to wait several years – Sienna and Almost hadn't exactly been subtle about the fact that she wasn't ready to leave Menagerie on her own just yet, and even if she was, she would still be needed for the foreseeable future – but eventually, it would happen.

The thought was enough to put a small smile on her face. Sure, it might take awhile, but she was getting closer to going home with every passing day, and that was worth celebrating in and of itself.

And when they finally saw how strong she had managed to get, she just knew that they would be so proud of her, the same way Sienna was.

Emerging into the center of camp, Ruby was met by what was unmistakably Sienna's tent. It was no bigger than everyone else's – Sienna had insisted on that – but it was far more ornate, covered in decorations and flags denoting her status as leader and anointed by torches posted all around it.

Looking at the entrance, Ruby couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Unusually, there appeared to be guards posted outside. That was strange, because as far as she could remember, Sienna had never once posted guards outside her tent before. If she had, then Ruby hadn't been around to see it. Still, strange as it was, Ruby had a report to give, and the sooner she gave it, the sooner she could get some extra sleep.

She approached the entrance, a small grin on her face. The two guards stopped talking with each other and turned to stare at her, their grips on their rifles tightening. Ruby's grin faded.

"Hey, guys," she said. "What's going on?"

The one on the left, a dog Faunus, eyed her warily. "Sienna is in a meeting. Come back later."

"Meeting?" Ruby echoed. "What kind of meeting requires her to post guards?"

"The important kind," the other guard, a bear Faunus, said. "Now, beat it."

"See, I'd like to, but I kinda have something important to tell her," Ruby said, trying to peer past the guards and into the tent. Unfortunately, they simply stepped closer together, denying her event that. She frowned. "If you could just let me in-"

"No."

"I swear, it would only take a few-"

"What part of no don't you get?" The dog snapped.

"The no part," Ruby said with a small smirk. These two were beginning to try her patience, so she would just have to play her trump card. "You know, I was ordered to go wipe out a Grimm horde and then report back by Sienna and Almost, and if you know Almost, he doesn't like to be kept waiting. So, unless you want to make him mad, you should really let me through."

The two guards exchanged a glance. After a moment, the bear Faunus turned back to her. "That doesn't change anything, considering he's in there with her, and I don't think he'd appreciate-"

"Well, why didn't you say so?!" Ruby asked. "That saves me the trouble of having to hunt him down. So, if you'd just step aside-"

"We already told you, you're not getting in to see them," the dog Faunus snapped, his patience clearly exhausted. "Now get lost, unless you want to get hurt."

Ruby blinked, then looked at both of them a bit more closely. "...Haven't we sparred before? I'm pretty sure I kicked both of your butts. Even if I haven't, I'm pretty tough, you know. You shouldn't look down on me just 'cuz I'm a kid and I'm small. I mean, sure, you're both a lot bigger than me, and you probably both have full auras while mine is almost empty 'cuz I had to fight an Alpha Beowolf, and your weapons are out while mine aren't, and I'm tired and kind of hungry, and-" She caught herself, then turned back towards them, a grin on her face. "Oh, nice try. Thought you could make me lose my focus, huh? Well, I'm too smart for that. You'll have to try harder."

Neither of them said anything, causing her to frown. Apparently, they had figured out her one weakness: being ignored. She sighed.

"So, what's so important that you two have to be out here, anyway?" She questioned. "I've never seen Sienna post guards before. Why would she need guards if she has Almost in there with her? He's pretty much tougher than everyone else here combined." Realization suddenly dawned on her, and she looked up at the guards with a shocked expression on her face. "...Are they in there making out?"

"Would you get lost already?" The bear Faunus snarled.

Ruby blinked, surprised. Whatever these guys were posted out here for, it must have been important, given how dedicated they were to getting her to leave. Still, she was beginning to lose her patience and her respect for these two – they had been nothing but rude the whole time, and had even threatened to hurt her. Sure, given her skill level compared to most people around camp it was probably an empty threat, but it definitely wasn't endearing them to her in any sense of the word. Frankly, these two needed to learn some respect, and while she wasn't going to attack them, she had no problem embarrassing them.

Ruby cast one final glance up at them before charging past them with her semblance, bowling both of them over in a cloud of rose petals as she came to a stop within Sienna's tent and looked around.

Ruby had expected the inside of the tent to look similar to how it always did when Sienna was discussing her plans. There would be a table filled with maps, and perhaps some examples of new recruitment materials. She expected to see an inventory list of the things they would need to help boost recruitment, along with a list of people to delegate to each task.

She didn't see any of that. Instead, what she saw was Sienna and Almost standing in front of a man, who was kneeling in front of them. He appeared to have been brutally beaten, if the severe bruising around his face and the blood leaking out of his nose and mouth was any indication. His hands also seemed to have been bound behind him. He weakly looked up at the two Faunus in front of him, his expression one of a broken man.

As his gaze fell upon his captors, Sienna turned to her right-hand man and said only two words to him, a sneer evident in her tone.

"Do it."

And then, before Ruby could ask what was going on, she watched her mentor pull a knife from a sheath on his belt and bury it deep into the center of the man's throat before tearing up and out. Ruby's eyes widened in terror as she watched the man fall back and writhe in his own blood, drowning in it, before giving one final, disgusting gurgle and falling still. As her gaze met the freshly-murdered man's cold, dead, hollow stare, Ruby couldn't help what happened next.

A horrified whimper tore its way from the little wolf Faunus' throat. Sienna and Almost reacted immediately, whipping around to face her. Sienna's expression was one of pure shock, while Almost had only the faintest hint of surprise etched across his face. Ruby met both of their stares with tear-filled eyes, unsure of what to do.

Sienna was the first of the pair to react. She composed herself enough to take a few steps forward, and then, in a disarming voice, tried to address her young follower.

"Ruby," she began. "Ruby, it's alright."

She took a few more steps, but by this time Ruby had finally realized that she _needed_ to escape. The wolf immediately turned on her heel and was about to run out of the tent when the two guards stopped in front of her, preventing her from going any further. She froze, uncertain of what to do, before turning around and seeing Sienna continuing to come closer.

"Ruby, please-" Sienna said.

"G-get away!" Ruby shouted, her hand drifting to her pistol.

The two men behind her immediately tensed when they saw her reach for her weapon, then brought their own weapons to their shoulders and flicked off the safeties in response. The sound of guns being drawn against her caused Ruby to panic even harder, her breath beginning to come out much faster as she started to hyperventilate. Upon seeing this, Sienna _immediately _paused, raising her hands in surrender.

"Okay," she said. "It's okay, Ruby. I won't hurt you." She then shifted her gaze to the two guards. "Stand down!" she hissed at them.

The two men hesitated. "Lady Khan-"

"I said, stand down!" she repeated. "Lower your weapons and leave us!"

The duo exchanged a worried glance before pointing their weapons down at the floor and reluctantly walking out of the tent, leaving just Ruby, Almost, and Sienna. Once they were gone, Sienna turned her attention back towards the wolf, keeping her hands raised in surrender.

"Ruby, it's okay," she reassured. "I promise that I won't hurt you. Please, let me just try and explain-"

"Y-you killed him!" Ruby shouted. "Why?!"

Sienna flinched slightly at the ferocity in her follower's voice, but quickly recovered.

"Okay," she said. "You want to know why? I'll tell you. But not here, and not when there are others around. Why don't we go somewhere else, just the two of us? I promise that I'll explain everything."

Ruby hesitated, and for a second Sienna was afraid that the young girl would refuse. If that happened, it would complicate things. She _really _didn't want Almost to be there when she tried to explain things, since she knew that the man lacked even the barest semblance of tact when it came to sensitive matters. She was relieved when the wolf Faunus hesitantly took her hand off the grip of her weapon and nodded.

"O-okay…" Ruby said, her voice shaking almost as much as she was.

Sienna let out a relieved sigh. "Good," she said. "Now, let's head out into the desert for a bit. It'll just be the two of us, I swear. And I won't be bringing my weapon."  
To emphasize her point, the tiger Faunus removed her chain whip from its spot at her hip and unceremoniously dropped it on the ground. She was aware of Almost giving her a disapproving stare as she did so, but she paid him no mind. He always hated seeing her walk around unarmed, but his unease was worth it if she managed to regain Ruby's trust.

Now disarmed, Sienna turned to her young follower. "Lead the way, Ruby."

It took them fifteen minutes to reach a spot in the desert where Ruby was sure that they wouldn't be followed. The two of them stood a few feet away from each other, Ruby uneasily staring her leader down.

Sienna, meanwhile, was trying to think of the best way to approach things. Whatever she said, it needed to be suitably convincing. Ruby had just witnessed her mentor murder a man in cold blood, and moreover had just heard her tell him to do it. The gears in the tiger's head had been turning ever since she suggested that the two of them go off alone, and she had managed to think up something that she hoped would be enough to keep the wolf Faunus as a dedicated follower.

Ruby gazed at her, a hurt expression on her face. "Why would you kill him…? I don't understand… I thought we were the good guys…"

The White Fang leader was silent for a moment before answering, her tone somber.

"I was hoping to spare you from having to experience that until later," Sienna admitted. "I wanted you to be a bit older before I told you the truth behind what we do here. The truth is, we do whatever it takes to keep our people safe and free. If that means we have to kill a few people, then we will."

"Y-you can't just do that!" Ruby protested.

"Do you think we want to?" Sienna asked. "If all we wanted was to murder humans in cold blood, then we wouldn't bother attacking Dust shipments or mines, we'd just head into human settlements and kill whoever we came across. We don't do that because it's not what our ultimate goal is."

"Then why?" Ruby questioned.

"Because the humans ignored everything else," Sienna said, her voice harsh. "Nonviolence worked at first, but it was only ever going to get us so far. Eventually, they were bound to start trying to ignore us. When that happened, we had no choice but to turn to violence, even if we're careful to limit who we're killing."

"T-that doesn't make it okay..."

Sienna sighed. "No, it's generally not okay, but it's what's necessary for us to achieve our goals. If there was another way, then we'd do it, but there isn't." Her expression turned harsh. "And for that matter, there are some humans who treat our kind so horrifically that the only suitable justice for us is to kill them."

"...How many?" Ruby asked, her voice trembling.

"Too many," Sienna replied. "I couldn't give you a concrete number. Fifty? A hundred? I don't know. Between how many die or are killed in raids and how many are specifically targeted, there's no way for me to keep track of them all. But the fact is that every single one of them deserved it. That man in there, for example? He was a Specialist in the Atlesian Military who often took freelance work with the SDC. His job was to hunt down any Faunus who tried fighting for better working conditions and wages, and either intimidate them into silence or make them disappear. What were we supposed to do with him? Turn him over to the police?"

She didn't wait for a reply, instead shaking her head. "Atlas would demand that we hand him over to them since it all happened in their territory. He's a high-ranking Specialist, a highly-trained warrior that the people of Atlas view as infallible and indispensable, and many of them couldn't care less about what he did – you do the math. He'd never make it to trial; the whole thing would get buried, his victims would go unavenged, and he'd likely be set free to do it all again after a while. Does that sound fair to you?"

"...N-no..." Ruby replied, her voice small. "B-but the others – you said you killed them because nonviolence didn't work."

Sienna nodded. "Yes, I did. But they were all bad, too. Maybe not as bad as him, but definitely not innocent. They all had blood on their hands – politicians responsible for either subjugating our people, or who were ready and willing to bury evidence of wrongdoing; military officials who did their dirty work for them; SDC supervisors, executives, and guards who keep Faunus as indentured servants for cheap labor… all of them were guilty of something, and just like that Specialist, none of them would have ever received a fair trial. What are we supposed to do with them, Ruby?"

"I don't know..." Ruby said softly. "But there has to be another way..."

"There's not," Sienna countered sadly. "I wish there was. We _all _wish there was. But there isn't, and that won't change any time soon. The fact is, if we're not willing to fight back with deadly force, then we're easy prey to those who will. If we embraced nonviolence again, we'd be wiped out in an instant. They'd never accept it. It'd be a bloodbath. This way, as harsh as it is, leads to fewer fatalities to both sides – they stop enslaving and working our people to death out of fear of retribution, and since we're targeting the upper echelons of their society, it paves the way for more open-minded people to take their place. Eventually, all the racists will have either died out or have stepped down willingly, and then true equality will be within our grasp. For the first time, we'll truly be free."

She gave Ruby a questioning glance. "Doesn't that sound like something worth killing for?"

Ruby paused, the gears in her head turning. After a minute, she spoke again, her voice small.

"Will I ever have to kill anyone?"

Sienna gave her a sad look, then nodded. "I'm afraid so."

The wolf Faunus looked at her, horrified. "B-but I can't – my big sis and daddy would hate me for it!" Her expression turned to panic. "I thought I was training to be a Huntress! Huntresses don't kill people!"

"That's not true," Sienna said quietly.

Ruby immediately quieted out of shock, giving her a confused look. "W-what…?"

"I said it's not true," Sienna admitted. "Huntsmen and Huntresses do sometimes kill people."

"N-no they don't!" Ruby retorted. "They kill Grimm! My mommy and daddy didn't kill people! You're lying!"

"I wish I was," Sienna admitted, "but the world isn't black and white like that. Sometimes, Huntsmen and Huntresses have to fight against people as well as Grimm – criminals, terrorists, psychopaths… people who are threats to the whole world. Sometimes, they're forced to kill these people."

The wolf gazed at her with wide eyes, a sniffle escaping her. "...T-then, you're s-saying my parents-"

"Might have killed people, yes," Sienna replied, before quickly adding, "but your parents weren't bad people, Ruby. They were good people forced to do something horrible that they didn't want to do, but they did it anyway to keep everyone else safe. Just because they killed people, that doesn't mean they were bad, okay? That's as far from the truth as it could possibly get, and don't ever let anyone else tell you otherwise."

Ruby looked down at her feet. "...'Kay," she said quietly. She rubbed at her eyes. "...And, you're sure I'll have to do it, too?"

"I am, unfortunately. But you'll only be going after bad people – nobody will get hurt who doesn't deserve it. And you'll be saving a lot of our people in the process."

Ruby was silent again for a while before speaking once more, her voice wavering. "...When will I have to start?"

"That's up to you," Sienna said. "It's going to be hard at first – you'll feel awful. But that passes quickly. Remember what happened the first time you hunted an animal?"

"...I cried a lot," Ruby admitted. "Almost wasn't happy."

Sienna nodded. "This will be the same way, but even worse. But I'll be here to help you, and I'll make sure you're okay. I'll even tell Almost to leave you alone and not judge you for it. Eventually, it won't bother you as much – you'll realize that it's awful, but necessary. Again, it's like those animals you hunted – there's a purpose to it; it's not just murder for the sake of murder."

Ruby nodded slowly. "...I understand. C-can I come back to you when I'm ready?"

"Of course, sweetie," Sienna said, before pulling the younger girl into a one-armed hug. "It would be best for you to start soon, but I won't rush you if you don't think you're prepared. When you're ready, come find me, and I'll help you."

Ruby nodded in understanding before closing her eyes and leaning into Sienna's hug, the tiger Faunus gently stroking her back. Something inside her was screaming that she had made the wrong decision, but to her, it didn't seem like she had – everything Sienna had said seemed to make sense. Ruby certainly couldn't find anything wrong with it no matter how many times she turned it over in her little ten-year-old mind.

Yet no matter how hard she tried convincing herself that she had chosen correctly, the feeling persisted, even if she didn't know why.

* * *

It took three months before Ruby felt that she was ready. On that day, she had finally approached Sienna and hesitantly told her that she was willing to give it a shot. Sienna had wasted no time in assigning her a target – a mark, she had called it – and sent her off.

And now, she found herself hidden on the outskirts of Kuo Kuana, staring through the scope of her rifle at a small bazaar that her target was known to visit every day.

According to Sienna, it was going to be simple – Ruby wouldn't even have to leave Menagerie. The target was a Faunus who had once been loosely affiliated with Sienna's group, but who had eventually had a change of heart and left. For some reason, he had come crawling back a few months ago; this was suspicious enough on its own, but combined with the sudden increase in defenses in the exact places the group was preparing to raid, and it was obvious what was happening. Nobody quite knew whether it was the military, the SDC, or both, only that whoever it was, they must have been paying him a fortune.

Either way, his time was up. He was a security risk, and he had already gotten several of Sienna's men captured and killed. Ultimately, he was going to have to be dealt with. If Ruby hadn't come forward, Almost would have been sent to do it instead.

As she sat in the bushes and peered down the barrel of her rifle, taking deep breaths to try and calm her pounding heart and fight off the intense feelings of anxiety, regret, and fear, Ruby couldn't help but wonder if she had made the right choice or not in choosing to do it herself.

"Come on, Ruby," she murmured to herself. "You heard Sienna – he _has _to die. If he stays alive, he's going to keep telling on everyone else, and getting them killed. Whatever happens to him, he deserves it..." She suppressed a shudder. "...Plus, it's better that you do it, so that it's quick. It'll be just like hunting an animal, like Sienna said..."

Her futile reassurances to herself were interrupted by her earpierce crackling to life.

"_Rose, are you in position?" _her mentor asked.

Ruby took a deep breath. "I am… Do you see him?"

"_Not yet." _A pause. _"Be prepared for when he arrives. You won't have long to take him out, and you'll only get one shot. Make sure you don't miss, and make sure there aren't any civilians around when you take it."_

"And if his aura is up?" she asked, silently hoping that pointing that fact out might cause Almost to reconsider the plan.

"_It'll be weak. He was never in a combat role – he isn't practiced in aura usage. It's no match for a twelve-point-seven round."_

"What if Atlas taught him-"

On the other end of the microphone, Almost grunted. _"Stop worrying about this and focus. If you can't take him out, I'll be following him. He won't get away."_

Ruby frowned. That wasn't the answer she had wanted, but there was no doubt in her mind as to whether or not it would be the best one she was going to get. She exhaled softly.

"Okay..." she muttered. "Okay, I'm ready."

"_Look sharp – I think I see him coming in from the south side. Watch the target area and confirm if it's him."  
_

Ruby felt her heart begin to pound again, and couldn't help but swallow nervously as she swiveled her scope towards where Almost had directed. The whole time, she continued to whisper to herself.

"You can do it, Ruby… It's for the good of everyone else… Mommy and Daddy would do the same thing if they were here..."

It wasn't helping. Desperate, Ruby tried to focus on where she was watching instead, hoping to take her mind off of what she was about to do.

The target area was a small fruit stand staffed by a female sheep Faunus, easily identifiable by her wool-covered ears. According to the intel Sienna had gathered on the man, he stopped by here every day around noon to pick up lunch and to flirt with the girl – he was routine enough about it that he could be relied upon to be there every day, rain or shine.

Staring at the girl through her scope, Ruby couldn't help but notice that excited look on her face. Clearly, she was eager to see the man. Whatever he said to her, she must have been happy to hear it. Why weren't the two of them married, though? Obviously, they cared about each other in the same way that mommies and daddies did, so they should have gotten together. They would make a great family. Maybe they'd eventually even have two little girls, the same as-

Ruby shook her head to clear it of those thoughts. Over the past few months, Almost had tried to ingrain into her the idea that the worst thing she could do was start empathizing with her marks, because then she'd never be able to pull the trigger. Still, it was difficult for her, especially in these circumstances. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, she doubted that she would ever be able to kill people without being bothered by it.

Then again, she had thought the same thing about the first few deer she had shot, and that had passed.

"_Rose, he's moving towards the fruit stand. I see a black-and-white tail – can you confirm that it's him?"_

The wolf Faunus swallowed nervously. "N-not yet, I can't-" She paused when a cloaked figure stepped into her field of view and began approaching the stand. Slowly, she angled her scope down towards his lower back, her heart skipping a beat when she noticed his tail.

It was covered in black and white stripes, and was unmistakably a zebra's tail.

Her heart skipped a beat, and her rifle began to shake in her hands.

"_Rose, are you there? Talk to me. What do you see? Is it him?"_

"I-it's him..." she muttered. "I'm sure..."

"_You know what to do, then."_

She nodded. Her hands still shaking, Ruby aligned the crosshairs of her scope directly on the center of his chest. Her finger hovered over the trigger, but was frozen in place. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, playing the results of her shot over and over in her head – the .50 caliber bullet would come screaming towards him, it would strike him in the chest, and there would be a shower of gore that signaled his demise. Even after swapping out her explosive rounds for standard ball ammunition, there was no way for someone without aura, or even with a weak aura, to walk away alive after taking one of these rounds to the chest. If she took the shot, he was going to die messily and horribly.

And it was going to happen right in front of the girl who liked him.

It was too much for Ruby. Her finger came off the trigger, and she slumped against her rifle. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes. She had failed.

"_Rose, what are you doing?! Take the damn shot!"  
_

"...I can't do it..." she muttered.

Almost growled. _"What?! He's going to get away!"  
_

"I know," Ruby said, her voice heavy with resignation. "I just… I can't."

_"I knew it," _her mentor hissed. _"I knew you were weak. You always were. You're a damned failure, Rose."  
_

Ruby flinched. "B-but-"

_"You think I want to hear your excuses? I don't care what you have to say. You're weak. If you can't even do this, your family deserves whatever happens to them."  
_

Her heart skipped a beat. "W-what do you mean…?"

_"You really are an idiot, aren't you? What, did you think you could just go to your family and it would all be okay? If you can't even take care of someone as insignificant as this, how can you protect your family from the man who tried to kill you?"_

"I d-don't need to kill!" she protested. "I can still be strong!"

_"Bullshit," _Almost countered. _"Even if you beat him, he'll just keep coming back. Fact is, unless you know how to kill, your family is going to suffer for it. Either that or you're never going to be able to go home."  
_

Her lower lip started to quiver. "P-please stop..."

_"Stop what, telling you the truth? You know I'm right. You're weak, and you're not worth my time. If you can't even do this right, then I'm done training you."  
_

"Please, no!" she screamed. "Please, I need to get stronger! If I can't, then my family-"

_"That's none of my concern," _he snarled. _"My concern is that I have an apprentice who's not tough enough to do something as simple as this, and who can't even follow orders.__ When you're watching that man kill the rest of your family the same way he butchered your mother, remember that I offered you a way to stop it, and you turned it down. Whatever happens, it's on you."_

The line went dead. The realization quickly began to set in: if she didn't go through with this, despite how awful it felt, her father and sister were as good as dead. Desperate, Ruby reached for her earpiece one final time.

"W-wait, please! I'll do it, I swear! Please, don't leave me on my own!"

To her temporary relief, the earpiece crackled to life one last time.

"_Then prove me wrong. You know what to do."_

With that, it went dead again. Instantly, her relief vanished. Ruby quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve and settled back behind her rifle, bringing the scope up to her eye. The man was still talking to the girl at the fruit stand.

She still had a chance to make things right.

Like before, images filled her head – of the man and the woman, of their possible children, and of his mangled corpse. But as soon as they came, Ruby replaced them with images of her own – of her father and of her sister, reminders of what she had to lose if she refused to go through with this. Steadily, her resolve began to strengthen, her heartbeat began to slow, and her breath became more controlled. Her finger curled around the trigger.

An ear-splitting shot echoed through the midday air.

Moments later, approximately half a mile downrange, the zebra Faunus' chest exploded. Blood, viscera, and bone fragments came bursting out of a grapefruit-sized hole in his back as the high-caliber, steel-core round liquefied his heart and lungs, painting the area behind him in a pink mist. His corpse fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, the only movement being a few twitches as his brain quickly began to shut down.

It took a moment for everyone else in the bazaar to process what had happened. When they did, the panicking started. People quickly turned and began to flee from the unseen killer, praying that they wouldn't be next.

Not that Ruby noticed any of it. She was too busy staring, wide-eyed and unblinking, at the man she had just murdered.

She turned to the side and expelled the contents of her lunch onto the sand next to her, and then the tears came. This time, Ruby didn't even try to stop them. Instead, she let go of her rifle, curled up into a little ball, and let herself be overwhelmed by what she had just done.

After some time – she didn't know how long, but it felt like forever – she heard someone approach her. She didn't even bother looking to see who it was. Whoever they were, they gently picked her up, resting her head against their chest to let her cry into them.

"I'm sorry," they said. "I never should have doubted you."

It was Almost, yet with what he was saying, it didn't sound like him.

He bent down again, and through her own sobbing, Ruby heard the sounds of her rifle being collapsed. A familiar weight settled onto her belt. Normally, it would have brought a feeling of security with it, but something had changed. Now, it only felt unclean and tainted.

Almost began to walk. She didn't know to where. At this point, it didn't matter. Wherever it was, it wouldn't help her feel clean.

He walked for a while, saying nothing to her the whole time. She was only vaguely aware of where they were going. Eventually, he stopped and put her down, and she felt someone pull her into a hug. Through her tears, she recognized Sienna's clothes. Despite the familiarity, there was no security to be found in the embrace. It only helped enhance the feeling that she had blood on her hands. Despite that, Ruby relaxed into the hug and let herself wail like a newborn baby.

Security or not, it was the only thing she had to help keep herself from focusing on the memories of the mangled corpse that had once been a man.

That night, for the first time since she learned that her mother had died, Ruby cried herself to sleep.

* * *

"You went too far."

Almost huffed, annoyed. "I did what was necessary to make her pull the trigger."

"You pushed her into it when she wasn't ready," Sienna countered.

"And it worked."

Sienna rubbed her temples. It was now close to midnight. The two of them were standing on the outskirts of camp; Ruby had cried herself to sleep in Sienna's tent just over four hours ago, and the tiger Faunus had decided to just let the ten-year-old have her bed for the night rather than curl up in a sleeping bag. The instant Ruby had fallen asleep in her arms, Sienna had gently carried her over to bed and put her down in it before quietly walking out in search of Almost, intent on giving him a piece of her mind.

Even hours later, they were still going at it.

"It worked now," Sienna replied tiredly. "The future is still uncertain. We have no idea what kind of damage you've just done to her by forcing her into it when she wasn't ready."

"She had to start eventually," Almost pointed out. "If not now, then when? If it were up to her, do you really think she would ever pull the trigger? Fact is, if I wasn't there to push her into doing it, she never would have done it."

"Waiting for a bit longer wouldn't have hurt."

The snake Faunus scoffed. "Spare me. Better that we deal with the worst of it sooner rather than later. At least now we know what to deal with, and we can begin getting her acclimated to the idea of killing."

"She's still fragile," Sienna protested.

"She's young, and that will end quickly if we get her into the field more often." He crossed his arms. "Who's the next target?"

Sienna hesitated, knowing she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "An SDC executive visiting the Vale branch in a few weeks."

"Consider it done. And I'm bringing the girl with me."

"Are you crazy?!" Sienna shouted. "We need to give her time before-"

"I know!" Almost retorted, cutting her off. "She won't be the one killing him; instead, she'll just be watching me do it."

"And what do you hope to accomplish with this?" the tiger Faunus growled.

"Getting her used to the idea of seeing people die. This time, she'll just watch. Next time, I'll do all the work except the final shot, and I'll pull the trigger with her. After that I'll do the same thing, but using a blade instead. I'm going to gradually expose her to killing until she's inoculated to it."

"This is an awful plan."

"Do you have a better one?"

Sienna's expression hardened, but she remained silent. After a few seconds, she sighed heavily. "I don't like this," she admitted. "It was my idea, and I can't deny that she'll eventually be incredibly useful, but seeing what it's doing to her? It makes me feel like a monster."

Almost grunted. "As long as it helps our people, who cares how it feels? Like it or not, it's what's necessary. That's all that matters. We have to be willing to go to any lengths in order to make our goals a reality."

Slowly and reluctantly, Sienna nodded. "...I'll tell our scouts to find me some more info on the next target, then send it to you." She paused. "How long do you think it'll be before she can go off on her own?"

He shrugged. "That's down to her, though admittedly, she's improving very quickly – far faster than someone her age should be. Way she's progressing, rank-and-file Atlesian soldiers should be easy prey by the time she's thirteen. It'll be a bit longer after that before she's tough enough to hold her own against most of the Huntsmen who work private security, and unless I kick her training into overdrive, she won't be capable of taking on a single Specialist until she's at least fifteen, let alone a whole squad of them."

"Not what I meant," Sienna said. "How long until she's mentally ready for it?"

"Again, that depends on her. Hopefully, she gets used to it quickly. If she does, we can start sending her after people who don't have training very soon."

Another sigh, this one of reluctance. "...Then we know where our focus should be. Keep training her, and when the time is right, send her on her way."

He nodded. "And now?"

"Now, let her recover. No training for a week – give her some time to rest. I'll be there for her the whole time to help her through it. If you need something to do, I've got some other targets you could take a look at, though we don't have enough intel on them for me to make a final decision yet. If you're not feeling up to that, there's always some Grimm around the island that you could take care of."

Part of her expected him to protest, but instead he simply nodded. "I see." He gazed back into the center of camp, towards her tent. "One of these days, she's going to make for a very powerful asset."

Outwardly, Sienna didn't disagree. Privately, she hoped that it was worth the cost of Ruby's innocence.

Otherwise, all of the innocence Ruby had lost, as well as all of the innocence she had yet to lose, was going to be for nothing.

* * *

**Full disclosure: I have no idea if my depiction of a wound caused by a .50 caliber/12.7x99mm round is correct or not. I did a few hours of research into the subject, but a lot of the stuff I found was obvious BS/fuddlore that was proven false with even a cursory glance at a ballistics gel test (".50 BMG is so powerful that even a near miss will still kill you", or "A single .50 BMG round to your torso will tear you in half", or other garbage along those lines). Basically, I had to do my best to separate the wheat from the chaff, and given how the .50 BMG round sort of has this memetic status where it basically kills your soul in addition to your body, that was harder than it should have been. In the end, I sort of had to take an educated guess on it, because there wasn't much else I could do. Weird, because you think it'd be easy to find that info online, but whatever. I did my best. Hopefully it's more accurate than not.**

**Aside from that, we're almost through the backstory and into the story proper. I've got one more chapter in the same vein as this one to go through before we get there, but I'm going to be doing something cool with it – something that I've been excited to see put to paper since I first started working on this thing (it is, in fact, one of a small handful of scenes that convinced me to actually sit down and turn this into a full-fledged story rather than a collection of ideas and snippets on my hard drive).**

**I'd go more into detail, but that would be spoiling the surprise. You'll know it when you see it, trust me.**

**Oh, and a preemptive Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all of you. I'm on my vacation, but I'll still make sure to respond to reviews and post an update when the time comes, both for this story and for my other one.  
**

**Next update: Saturday, January 4.**


	4. Chapter 4

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 4

* * *

"Check in."

"_Team three, in position."_

"_Team two, in position."_

"Team one, in position. Wait for my signal."

Blake fidgeted nervously where she stood, searching desperately for something to take her mind off of what was about to happen. This wouldn't be her first raid, but recently, things had started to change in the White Fang, and not in a direction she was comfortable with. Hopefully, this mission would go better than the last one.

"You okay?" came a voice from behind her, followed by a hand on her shoulder.

The cat Faunus let out a heavy breath. "Yes, Adam. Just nervous."

He gently squeezed her shoulder. "Nothing to be nervous about. You've done fine on the last couple of raids."

"That's not what I meant. I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about what's going to happen here. What happened during the last raid-"

"Was an accident," Adam assured her gently. He removed his hand from her shoulder, instead letting it rest on the hilt of his sword. "Blake, do you trust me?"

"Of course," Blake replied instantly. "Out of everyone in the White Fang, you and Ilia are the only people I trust completely. That doesn't change what happened."

"What happened was he decided to attack even though he had no aura, I didn't realize his aura had been depleted, and then..." Adam trailed off. "Like I said, it was an accident."

"Promise me it won't happen again," Blake urged.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I promise, nobody is going to die by accident this time. I promise I'll pay more attention, and be more careful."

Blake relaxed at that. "Thank you."

He grinned. "Good. Now, one last weapons check."

Blake nodded in understanding, then reached for the weapon on her back. First, she cycled through all of its forms, ensuring that it transitioned smoothly between each one. Then, she toggled the safety, checking to make sure that it was functional. Finally, she reached for the front of her weapon's slide and pulled it back just enough to get a glimpse of the ten-millimeter bullet resting in the chamber before letting it snap back into position. Turning to Adam, she nodded.

"Alright, show time," he said, sheathing his sword before keying his microphone. "All teams, remember what we're here for." Casting a glimpse over to Blake, he added, "And no deaths this time – we're here to steal Dust and get information, not kill people. Now, move in."

At the signal, three two-man teams of Faunus descended on the target, a Schnee Dust Company warehouse. Blake and Adam ran to the front of the building, and Adam cut through the door before they filed in, weapons at the ready.

The only opposition they encountered was a single security guard, who whirled around in surprise at the sound of the door being demolished, one hand on his holstered pistol. Adam took care of him with a single slash, and the man fell over unconscious.

The two looked around the lobby of the building as gunfire began to erupt from deeper in the facility. There were two hallways ahead, one in front and one to the left. The one in front no doubt led to deeper into the warehouse, while the other possibly marked their true objective.

"You go help them," Adam said, motioning to the hallway in front. "I'll go hunt for the manager."

Blake nodded and the two split off into different directions. She sprinted down the hallway before bursting through a pair of double doors and finding herself in the middle of the warehouse. Large shipping containers of Dust surrounded her on all sides, along with an array of vehicles responsible for hauling it all. But none of that mattered right now. Her job was to assist her comrades with fighting off the facility's private security force.

The cat Faunus ran deeper into the warehouse, following the sounds of combat. She leapt atop one of the shipping containers to get a better view, and found what had happened to her allies. Of the four that had been given the task to infiltrate through the back, two of them were unconscious, while one other was currently pinned down by automatic rifle fire courtesy of three security guards. The fourth was engaged in combat against two other guards, but it was obvious that he was taking a beating.

Blake swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and ran atop the containers until she was within striking distance of the two actively fighting against her ally. She jumped from one of the containers directly into the fray, Gambol Shroud at the ready.

The blade tore into one of the guards, causing him to let out a grunt and take his attention off her teammate. The guard whipped around and fired off a shotgun shell loaded with buckshot at her, and Blake quickly ducked to the side to avoid the shot. Before the man got a chance to pump his shotgun, she lashed out with her blade, scoring several hits before he abandoned his gun in favor of a knife on his belt. He lunged forwards, but Blake simply put down a clone and propelled herself backwards, out of range of his stab. Once she was clear of his blade, she threw down a second clone, this time propelling herself to the side.

Her ploy worked, and the man targeted her clone, burying his knife down to the hilt in it. He was surprised when it faded, and was even more so when Blake slashed at him several times from the side before finishing with a stab. The man's aura finally broke, and with one final hit, he crumpled to the ground unconscious. She turned to her ally to help him, only to find him standing over his opponent and panting heavily from the exertion. He sent her a silent thanks in the form of a nod before the two of them rushed off to deal with their pinned teammate.

The other three guards were too focused on suppressing the White Fang member to notice the other two approach. Blake took aim with her pistol before firing a trio of shots, which caught the closest guard in the arm, neck, and head, respectively. He stumbled from the hits, stunned, and was unable to react when Blake got within melee distance. He was quickly taken out of the fight, leaving just two more guards. The closest of the two was handled by the White Fang member Blake had helped, and she moved to take care of the final one. Before she could get there, however, the formerly pinned White Fang fired off a burst from his assault rifle, taking the man down.

The two still-conscious members took a moment to catch their breath before they turned to her.

"Thanks for the help," said one.

The other nodded. "Yeah. You really saved us back there."

"It's nothing," Blake said. "You two watch them, I'm going to go look for my team leader."

They nodded in understanding as Blake took off running back towards the front of the building in search of Adam. She sprinted through the lobby, past the unconscious guard, and down the hallway before quickly ascending the flight of stairs that led to the manager's office. She burst through the door, weapon at the ready, and almost immediately felt her breath catch in her throat at what she saw.

It was a bloodbath. The manager and his two bodyguards both lay dead, deep lacerations covering all three of them, some of them deep enough that bone was visible. The walls were spattered with blood, and it was leaking onto the once-pristine snow-white floor. Blake had to fight the urge to vomit as she stared at the corpses, her gaze unflinching. Finally, she was able to look away from them in search of her mentor.

She found him leaning against a nearby wall for support, clutching at a bullet wound on his left arm.

"Adam!" she shouted as she rushed over to him.

"I'm fine," he tried to tell her.

"You're injured!" she protested. "What happened?!"

He took a breath.

"...Manager had a damn security team with him," he reported. "Had to be former Specialists or something – way too tough to be rank-and-file. Had to take them out using my semblance – cut right through them, aura and all. Didn't have a choice. But it was worth it."

He held up a scroll, a smirk on his face. Blake's eyes widened.

"You actually got it," she said in awe.

The scroll was far too fancy to belong to anyone but the deceased manager. Judging from Adam's smirk, he had already taken a quick look at it, finding exactly what they wanted: information on other mining camps, including incoming and outgoing Dust shipments, guard rosters, the number of workers at each camp – everything the White Fang had been searching for in order to kick their operations into overdrive.

"You didn't think I'd be satisfied with just stealing a bunch of Dust, did you?" her mentor asked, his grin growing wider. "We'll leave the theft to the other members. They'll understand once we tell them that we found something better."

He took a step forward only to double over in pain. Blake was upon him immediately, sheathing her weapon in favor of supporting him. He gave her a grateful look as she helped him move through the facility towards the front door. Once they were back in the lobby, they were met by the other team members, who both stared at Adam in shock.

"Give me a report," the bull Faunus commanded.

"All hostiles have been neutralized," one of them said. "They've all been tied up in back. They won't be bothering us while we work."

"Good," Adam said. "And the other team members?"

"Unconscious."

He frowned. "Unfortunate. Looks like we'll have to settle for two trucks full of Dust instead of six."

"Only two?" the man asked. "Are you not-"

Adam just smirked and held up the scroll. The man's eyes widened.

"I understand," he said, awestruck. "I'll let the branch leader know that we'll be bringing something even better than Dust."

"Excellent. You all did well tonight."

At that, the man turned his attention to Blake. "Couldn't have done it without her. She saved us."

Beneath her mask, Blake couldn't help but blush at the man's praise. Adam just smiled at her.

"Told you that you could do it," he said to her before turning back to the other White Fang members. "You two handle things from here. We'll be heading back to camp instead of the delivery site."

"Understood. Keep that scroll safe."

Adam laughed. "Don't have to tell me twice. Now get going, we don't have all night."

The other two men nodded before retreating back into the warehouse. Blake continued supporting Adam as the two of them slowly but surely walked back to their base camp. The whole time, Blake tried her best to push the image of the three dead men out of her mind, to no avail.

And with that image came an endless stream of doubt.

Something was wrong. Adam's story seemed strange in some way, even if it made sense at a cursory glance. This incident, combined with the one on the last raid, was beginning to paint a disturbing picture.

She was going to have to talk with Adam once they got back to camp, that was for sure.

* * *

"What happened back there?"

Adam winced as Blake rubbed disinfectant on his bullet wound. "I told you, Blake. I was forced to use my semblance."

"That doesn't explain much," Blake retorted, putting the disinfectant away and reaching for the roll of gauze.

Adam reached out with his uninjured hand and gently took hold of her wrist. "Blake, what are you worried about?"

The cat Faunus huffed. "I'm worried about _you, _Adam! Someone dies at your hands on the last raid, and then suddenly another three people die on this raid?"

"What are you saying?" Adam asked, his voice carrying a slight edge to it. "Do you think I'm some kind of monster?"

"I'm just worried," Blake said. "Some of the things I've heard around camp are starting to make me think that people are joining us because they want to hurt or kill humans, not because they're interested in fighting for equality."

"And you think I'm one of them?"

Blake hesitated. "I don't know," she admitted. "A few weeks ago? I wouldn't even consider it. But after these last two raids? I'm concerned."

"You have nothing to be concerned about," Adam promised. "Blake, I promise you, everything that's happened has been an accident."

Again, she hesitated. "…I want to believe you," she said after a moment's pause. "But that's what you said the first time."

"So, you think I'm a cold-blooded killer?"

Her eyes widened. "N-no, I'm just..." She sighed. "...I'm afraid, Adam. When my father started the White Fang, he started it to fight for equality. I think we're still fighting for that, but there are some people in the group who couldn't care less about it. All they want is to hurt humans and dress it up as a revolution. They don't want equality; all they want is revenge." She looked into his scarred left eye. "More than anything, I'm afraid that you're going to follow in their footsteps."

He frowned. "I understand," he said solemnly. "I know how this whole thing looks, but I promise you, it's not what you think. There are others who fit your description, sure, but I'm not one of them. We've known each other for years, Blake. I trust you more than anyone else." Their gazes met. "You know me better than anyone else in the world does. Do you trust me?"

Blake paused. Part of her was still suspicious, but the truth was that Adam was right – the two of them had known each other since childhood, and had come to trust in each other more than anyone else in the White Fang. When they were younger, they had laughed together, played together, and gone to school together.

Now, as teenagers, they trained together, lived together, and fought together.

And, given the way their relationship was progressing, it was looking as if they would soon be sharing a bed together.

The fact was, for all her doubts about Adam, she had spent far too much time around him to be unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt. She had known him for over ten years – from when they were young kids to now, as fifteen-year-olds. The fact was, Adam was the person she was closest to in all of Remnant, especially after the falling-out between her and her parents. If she couldn't trust Adam, then who could she trust?

Finally, she nodded slowly. "...Yes, I do."

He gave her a small grin and wrapped one arm around her, pulling her close. "Thank you, Blake. I promise, I'll be more careful from now on."

Blake huffed, then shrugged off his arm. "I know. Now, let me see your arm; I still have to bandage you."

Adam sat up straighter, offering his arm to her. "Long as you're sure you don't have to take the bullet out first."

"It's not exactly a whole bullet anymore, Adam – I'd cause more damage trying to hunt down all the fragments. Since it's not in a sensitive spot, I'm not touching it." Seeing his look of incredulity, she quickly added, "And that's not me saying that, it's what the medic said when I called him and asked what to do, since he's still working on those survivors from the mining camp a week ago. Now, hold still while I pack the wound."

Adam relaxed at that, though still maintained a cautious look on his face. Blake rolled her eyes and instead set to fixing him up.

The whole time, she couldn't help but chastise herself for ever doubting him.

* * *

Silver eyes peered through the iron sights of a lever-action rifle, tracking the target as it moved through the sparse savanna underbrush. By her estimation, it was about 200 meters out – well within her ability to take with a single shot, even though she was shooting unsupported from the shoulder and using iron sights. The .45-70 bullet her lever-action fired would be more than enough to ensure a clean kill even at this distance, provided she fired at the right spot. On a target like this, and at this distance, that would be directly between the shoulder blades – the bullet would sever the spine, and death would be almost as painless as it was instant. It was a harder shot to make than some of the others available to her, but unlike almost all of the others, this was the only one that was both feasible for her to hit with iron sights and also ensured a quick and painless death.

The sharpshooter pressed the wooden stock of her weapon into her shoulder, then took a deep breath and held it as she aligned the sights directly on her target. Her finger curled around the trigger and began to gently pull it rearward.

A hair's breadth away from the trigger breaking, her scroll buzzed.

Ruby released the breath she was holding. In front of her, she watched as the deer she had spent the day tracking finished chewing on some plants and began to walk away, completely ignorant of just how close it had come to being her dinner. With a heavy sigh, the wolf Faunus cast one last glance at the animal before reaching up and pressing on the hammer of her weapon with her thumb as she pulled the trigger, gently letting the hammer fall back into place. With her weapon now safely decocked, she slung it over her shoulder and reached into her pocket to check her scroll.

_Come back to camp – I have an important job for you._

Ruby felt a twinge of apprehension. If Sienna was calling her back on a Sunday, that only meant one thing. She sighed again, then pocketed her scroll and reluctantly began the trek back to camp.

* * *

By the time Ruby got back to camp, the sun was beginning to set. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn't yet eaten, but she paid it no mind – whatever Sienna wanted was more important.

As she walked through camp towards Sienna's tent, Ruby passed by several other White Fang members. Every single one of them gave her a wary glance and a wide berth. She didn't blame them; she had sparred against most of them before, and all of them had been soundly defeated, despite her young age. In their eyes, she was probably some kind of monster.

After what she had been up to for the past year, a small part of Ruby was inclined to agree with them.

Reaching Sienna's tent, Ruby pushed those thoughts out of her mind and stepped inside. Upon entering, she could see that Sienna and Almost were both already there waiting for her.

"Good, you're here," Sienna said. "I've got something I need you to do. Come take a look at this."

Ruby nodded in understanding and approached the table, where Sienna's scroll was lying open. She leaned over to look at it, frowning as she did so.

"What am I looking at?" she asked.

"Plans for your next job," came the reply. "To be specific, you're looking at an overhead map of downtown Atlas."

Ruby looked at her, surprised. "Atlas…? You want me to go to Atlas?"

"Honestly? No, I don't. But we don't have any other choice."

Sienna reached for the scroll, minimizing the map and bringing up a set of notes. She then handed it back to Ruby, who began to quickly read over it. As she did, her scowl grew.

"You want me to take out a VIP?"

"You're on the right track," Sienna answered. "This isn't just any VIP – it's a Schnee family member."

Ruby almost dropped the scroll out of shock. Sienna, seeing her astonishment, sighed.

"As you can clearly tell, this is an important job."

"Important?! That's an understatement! And you want to send _me _to do it?!"

"If I had a choice, I'd keep you here. But I don't." Sienna motioned towards Almost, who let out an annoyed growl.

"Camera saw me during my last trip to Atlas a few weeks ago," he said, his voice dripping with rage. "I got sloppy, and now I'm stuck here until the heat dies down."

Sienna nodded grimly. "And as much as I want to wait to do this, we can't afford to. Everything you see on that scroll indicates that our only chance to strike will be within the next few days – the Schnee will be traveling through downtown Atlas on their own, likely lightly guarded since they won't be expecting an attack right in the middle of the city. Weather reports show that there's supposed to be a blizzard coming in a short time after that, so it will make following you difficult. Plus, there's the matter of Jacques keeping any intelligence regarding his family tightly controlled – the fact that we even have all of this in the first place is a small miracle. All told, we will never get a chance like this again. Either we seize it or we risk losing an opportunity to strike at the Schnees directly, and odds are that we'll never get another."

Ruby swallowed nervously. "...So, what do you want me to do?"

"Head to Atlas," Sienna said. "We'll provide you transport in the form of a Bullhead. Once you're there, find a spot along the route shown on the map and wait. Disable the vehicle, deal with the Schnee, and get out as fast as you can."

The wolf Faunus hesitated. "...And you're sure I can do this?"

"It has to be you, Ruby," Sienna implored. "We can't afford to let a chance like this slip through our grasp. Nobody but you can do this."

Seeing that she was still apprehensive, Sienna approached and put a hand on her shoulder, then flashed her a smile. "I know you can do it. You've done well on every other mission you've been sent on. I'm confident that this will be no different."

"Stop doubting yourself," Almost interjected with a glare. "I've trained you better than that."

Ruby sighed. "...Okay. I'll get it done."

"I know you will," Sienna said. "Now, in two days, you'll head into town and board the Bullhead. Until then, I want you to study the intel and do whatever you need to prepare."

The wolf nodded in understanding. "I will."

"Remember what I've taught you," Almost said suddenly. "What did I tell you about the Schnees?"

"It doesn't matter what they look like – if they're a Schnee, they have to die," Ruby repeated. She tilted her head, confused. "Why remind me of that?"

"To make sure you're prepared. I won't tolerate failure on this mission, Rose."

"Then I won't let you down," Ruby said. Her voice was even, but in reality, she was no less confused than she had been before hearing his answer.

Her orders seemed self-evident enough, so why did he feel the need to clarify them with her? It wasn't something he had ever done before, which was making her think there might be more to this mission than it initially appeared. Still, even after running through everything she had been told, she couldn't find any discrepancies with it.

In any case, it was probably fine. Sienna and Almost had never given her any reason to doubt them before, and she wasn't about to start now, especially with a mission as important as this.

She turned back to her mentor and her leader. "If it's okay with you two, I'll take my leave and begin preparing now."

"Go ahead," Sienna said, tapping on her scroll. A few seconds later, Ruby's own scroll buzzed, indicating that it had received the information.

Ruby nodded in understanding, then turned and began to leave. As soon as she was out of earshot, she sighed heavily.

This was going to be the hardest mission she had ever been on. Alone, behind enemy lines, with no hope of rescue if things went south… there was just so much that could go wrong, and all of it was completely out of her hands. If the weather wasn't in her favor, it would be impossible to lose her pursuers, since the air force wouldn't be mostly grounded. If there was more resistance than expected, or if she took too long dealing with them, then she would be captured before she even got a chance to escape. If someone saw her and recognized her as Summer Rose's daughter, then too much attention would be focused on her for her to even carry out her mission.

And as far as the mission itself was concerned, she didn't even know which Schnee it was.

That thought made her stop in her tracks, worried. Obviously, if it was Jacques or Willow, there wouldn't be a problem – Jacques had no combat training to speak of and would be an easy target to deal with on his own, not to mention the fact that he was evil enough that she could easily separate his head from his neck and feel zero remorse over it. Similarly, while Willow wasn't as well-known as her husband, she certainly didn't do anything to rein him in, meaning she was culpable in his crimes, and while she had received Huntress training growing up, it was a well-known fact that her skills had long since dulled due to disuse. She would similarly be easy prey.

But what if it wasn't either of them?

Winter Schnee was a member of the family, and a Specialist to boot, but she hadn't done anything personally against Faunus besides take out White Fang strongholds around Atlas, and even then she had been careful to stick to less-than-lethal tactics. Plus, it was a well-known fact that she had essentially emancipated herself from the rest of the family, having turned her back on them years ago in order to run off and join the military. Did she deserve to die like her parents did? Ruby didn't know, and the fact that she didn't know scared her.

In the past, all her kills had been so black-and-white. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that the people she had killed had deserved it – they were either directly responsible for her people suffering, enabling it in some way, or guarding someone who fit either of those definitions. None of them were innocent, at least as far as she could tell. Cutting them down or blowing their brains out had ultimately been a consequence of their actions, not hers.

No matter how bad she felt after each one, that didn't change the fact that the world was better off with evil people like them dead. Sienna and Almost had taken care to remind her of that fact constantly, and she had never seen a reason for them to lie.

These thoughts continued to bother the wolf Faunus until a different one struck her: if Winter had separated herself from the family, then she probably wouldn't be a priority target. Of course, if there was a chance to get rid of her then Sienna would take it, if only for the psychological effect eliminating her would have, but she definitely wouldn't risk Ruby for it like she was for this job; Winter was hardly a threat to them outside of Atlas, especially since she had next to no say on how the SDC operated. Any gains to be made from her death would be limited in scope.

Plus, if it was her, why would she need bodyguards? She was a Specialist; she could easily handle herself. Any bodyguards assigned to her would probably be weaker than she was.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief at that realization.

It took all of a second for relief to turn to horror again when she remembered there were two others she had left out.

First off was Whitley Schnee. Obviously, his last name made him a valuable target… but would Sienna really mark him for death? While he might have inherited some of his father's racist tendencies, he was still a child, and a young one at that. At this point, there was no way he could have been responsible for any kind of suffering outside of schoolyard bullying, and as much as Sienna hated the Schnee family, Ruby hardly thought of her as someone so desperate to strike at them that she would authorize the assassination of a child who was, for all intents and purposes, almost certainly innocent of any real wrongdoing. Having known Sienna for eight years by this point, Ruby was confident that this wasn't the case. She quickly crossed Whitley Schnee off the list.

That left only one.

Weiss Schnee. Like her brother, she was still a child, albeit not by much – in the kingdoms, a person was considered an adult at age seventeen, and Weiss had just had her fifteenth birthday a few months ago. She was the heiress to the company, meaning she had a more direct role in its affairs then anyone else in her family did, save for her father. If she was following in her ancestors' footsteps, then she had probably been receiving combat training for several years, but at such a young age and without someone like Almost willing to push her to the limit every training session for the entire time, there was no chance that she was skilled enough to go without bodyguards the same way her older sister was.

To Ruby's knowledge, Weiss hadn't been directly involved in any racist incidents, but being the heiress, she was one of the company's spokespeople, and had been responsible for many press releases condemning any attacks against her family's company and attempting to justify her father's wrongdoings. At this point, she was practically the face of the SDC's public relations, which made her a target – if she was eliminated, it would strike a huge blow to the company, and with Weiss so ingrained in the mind of the public, it wouldn't be something that could be covered up or brushed aside. In that case, the White Fang would be able to milk her death for all it was worth.

The more Ruby considered it, the more likely it seemed, and the more her heart plummeted.

If Weiss was the target, would Ruby be able to kill her? Again, she didn't know. She had more of a reason to kill Weiss than either of the other Schnee children, but at the same time, Weiss was still a child. She was rapidly approaching adulthood, true, but she wasn't that much older than Ruby.

In fact, she would be the same age as Yang right about now.

At that thought, Ruby swallowed nervously. In a way, killing Weiss would be similar to killing her own sister. In the grand scheme of things, it would certainly be equally as heinous – in either case, a fifteen-year-old girl would be dead, by her hands.

Could she do that to Weiss?

For that matter, could she do that to Weiss' _family_?

When Yang had gotten sick, Ruby's family had been devastated. Over the course of several weeks, all of them had started to rapidly fall apart as they watched her waste away, helpless to do anything. The only thing that had kept them all going was the hope that there was a way for her to get better.

What if there hadn't been one? How would they all have reacted if the only thing they could do was watch as Yang slipped away? If watching her health worsen had reduced them all to shadows of their former selves, what would they have been like if they had been forced to actually bury her?

If Weiss' family was similar to her own – or, at least, Willow and Winter were similar to how Summer and herself were – then Ruby already knew the answer.

And it terrified her more than anything else she had thought of so far.

Again, Ruby swallowed nervously and tried to push the thought from her mind. Quickly, she attempted to replace her worries with logic – Sienna, as extreme as she was, would never authorize the death of a child, right? Tentatively, Ruby took a breath to calm herself. Yes, that was obviously the case. Sienna wasn't a monster. Never before had she asked Ruby to kill children, and Ruby found it hard to believe that she would start now, no matter how much it would impact the Schnees as a whole.

There were some lines that even revolutionaries wouldn't cross, and assassinating children was one of them.

Taking another deep breath, Ruby felt her pounding heart begin to calm as a sense of relief settled over her. When it finished taking hold, she let out a small chuckle. Clearly, she was being silly. The target was obviously going to be either Jacques or Willow, with a small chance that it would be Winter instead. Nothing else made sense, so it had to be one of those three.

In that case, Ruby had no doubts about what she would do. There would be a problem if it was Winter, of course, but in that event Winter would probably attack her first after her vehicle was disabled, and then Ruby wouldn't feel so bad about it since she would have to defend herself, which would at least help her justify what she had to do. She would certainly feel bad about it, but it was something she could live with.

With that thought, Ruby set off once more, this time feeling as if a big weight had lifted off her shoulders.

Whatever happened, she had a job to do, and she wasn't about to let Sienna down by failing to do it properly.

* * *

Several days later, and Ruby found herself back where it all began.

The cold Atlesian air chilled her to the bone, causing her to draw her white winter coat around herself to try and retain some warmth, to little success. Having spent most of her life for the past eight years in a desert, the wind chill alone would have been enough to freeze her to her core. Coupled with the heavy snowfall, and the wolf Faunus doubted that she would last much longer before being forced to take refuge inside the building she had managed to sneak her way on top of.

The trip to Atlas had been slow and agonizing, even without including the two days of preparation she had done beforehand. Normally, it would have been a relatively quick excursion, but that was only true for traveling by airship. Since she had taken a Bullhead in order to remain under-the-radar, and since the weather hadn't been on her side, it had taken several days.

That meant several days to do nothing but think – about her task, about Sienna and Almost, and most of all, about her mother.

Eight years ago, Ruby's new life had started here, as she had watched her mother die to protect her. Ruby had never truly gotten over her death, and she doubted that she ever would. There were too many questions left unanswered for that to happen. What would their family have been like? Would Ruby even know what the White Fang was? Would she still feel the same way she did about humanity as she did now?

If she were still alive, would her mother have been proud of her?

On its surface, the last question seemed ridiculous. If she was alive, then she should have been able to understand what Ruby had been doing – after all, according to Sienna, Huntsmen and Huntresses were often forced to kill people in order to keep others safe, which was exactly what Ruby had been doing. Sure, the people she had killed were often not a threat to her personally, and sure, she sometimes had to do things like break into their homes or hunt them down in order to take them out, but they were all evil, weren't they? Sienna and Almost had told her as much, so why would she think otherwise?

Still, something about it didn't feel right.

With a huff, Ruby shook her head, then reached into the folds of her winter coat and pulled out a plain white Grimm mask, placing it over her face and adjusting it until it felt right. She had a job to do right now; focusing on thoughts such as that weren't going to help. Instead, Ruby brushed some snow off of her rifle's scope and checked her zero. According to the intel she had been given, the target vehicle was going to be a limousine, and it was supposed to be headed her way any second. Unless her target had altered the plan, soon she would be able to strike a critical blow at her oppressors.

She peered through her scope at the road a short ways away and waited, the whole time doing her best to push away the troublesome thoughts that refused to leave her mind.

* * *

"How much longer?"

"'Bout twenty minutes."

"You sure? That seems optimistic, given that it's looking like we're about to be hit by a heavy snowstorm."

A small sigh escaped her as she listened to the banter around her. These bodyguards were new – ex-Huntsmen, unlike the ex-Specialists they usually hired for security. There was a reason for that, of course – namely, that she had requested something besides Specialists for once.

Specialists were certainly skilled, but they were too military for her liking. They were all business all the time; their conversations, assuming they chose to say anything rather than remain silent, consisted almost entirely of military jargon that went right over her head. They were unquestionably strong, undoubtedly even more so than a standard team of four Huntsmen, but an attack this deep into Atlas, in the middle of a snowstorm, while on the way to a military institution to negotiate a deal – her father's wishes, of course; in his own words, she had to learn how to do it eventually – seemed improbable at best.

Plus, for the questions she had planned, Huntsmen were more appropriate than Specialists.

She cleared her throat to get the attention of the one nearest to her – he seemed to be the leader, judging by how he was attempting to rein in his teammates. At the sound, they all quieted down and turned to face her.

"Something on your mind, Miss Schnee?"

She gave him her most disarming smile, the same way she had been taught to in order to win people over and get them to do what she wanted. "Please, call me Weiss."

"Okay, then. Something on your mind, Weiss?"

"Yes, I-" she trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. Should she take the direct approach? It risked finding its way back to her father… but then again, so did almost all of the other ways. Plus, these were freelance Huntsmen, not Specialists – they seemed far less inclined to give a complete after-action report to her father that consisted of anything more than 'It was quiet and nothing happened'. Finally, she made up her mind.

"I was wondering if you could tell me which Huntsman academy you graduated from, and what it was like?"

He blinked, surprised, before the fabric on the balaclava covering his mouth shifted slightly, indicating a grin. "The Schnee heiress, wondering about what it takes to become a Huntress? How scandalous."

Weiss blushed. "I just figured that since my mother and grandfather received Huntsman training that it might be a good idea to follow in their footsteps, that's all."

That was her story and she was sticking to it.

As far as she was concerned, the less said aloud about how far she was willing to go for a brief respite from her father, the better.

He held up his hands disarmingly. "Hey, you won't hear any complaints from me. Far as I'm concerned, the world could use more people with Huntress training. It'd certainly make the Grimm less of a problem than they currently are, that's for sure."

He motioned to his teammates. "The four of us all graduated from Beacon together."

"Beacon?" Weiss asked, surprised. "How'd you end up in Atlas?"

At that, he chuckled slightly. "To tell you the truth? Because Atlas pays well, and it's easier than other bodyguard gigs – very little Grimm to worry about, what with the military's constant presence overhead. 'Course, I almost ended up in Atlas Academy before deciding to go to Beacon at the last second."

"Really?" the heiress asked, genuinely interested. "What made you go with Beacon?"

"The way Atlas is run, mostly. As far as the curriculum goes, Atlas is just as effective as the other schools, but it's a bit too stuffy and overbearing for my taste. It's the only academy that's directly connected to the kingdom, which means the kingdom chooses how it gets run. Ultimately, that means that it gets run like a military academy. Everything is carefully controlled and regimented – up until a few decades ago, they even tried to force a fighting style on all the students, though that's long since been changed. Still, if you don't want to be woken up at six in the morning every day by a drill instructor screaming in your face, then you might want to look elsewhere."

"Oh," Weiss said, somewhat disheartened. "But there are some good things about it, right?"

"Well, sure. For one, students often work side-by-side with the military itself on joint operations, which is something that no other academy offers. For another, graduating from the academy with high marks instantly gets you a fast-track into Specialist training, if you're interested in that sort of thing. On top of all that, Atlas Academy gets all the best gear, the best professors, the best learning opportunities… Fact is, while being an arm of the kingdom limits them in some ways, it also provides other benefits, too."

"Then, do you think Atlas would be a good fit for me?"

"Honestly? No, I don't."

Weiss paused. "Really?"

He nodded. "I don't mean any offense, but you don't seem like someone who would thrive at Atlas. Tell me if this sounds familiar: as the heiress, there are certain things that have been expected of you from the day you were born. Your whole life has been regimented and tightly controlled, scheduled down to the minute from the instant you could read on your own. While this is what you're used to, it's also limiting – you don't really know how to live your life from outside your family's shadow. Am I on the right track?"

Weiss didn't respond. Part of her wanted to lash out and tell him to be quiet, to shout that it wasn't true… but she couldn't deny that what he was saying fit her perfectly. Plus, as unused to casual conversation with people outside of her social class as she was, he didn't seem to be speaking maliciously. Curious, she motioned for him to continue, and after a nod of understanding, he did.

"You've gotten used to living like this, but there's a part of you that desires something more. Deep down, you know that there are other things to experience away from home, and away from your family. The thought of leaving home for four years makes you nervous, but it's also exciting. At the same time, you're afraid to bring the idea up to your family, because you're worried that they won't approve." He gave her a pointed glance. "You want my advice? Don't ask for their permission when you make your choice. Just do it, then ask for forgiveness instead. You'll thank me later."

Weiss stared at him in wonder. "...How do you know all this?"

He barked out a laugh. "I may not look it, but I was in the same position you were, once – young kid from a well-off family, eager to see the world even though his parents wouldn't approve. Granted, my family wasn't nearly as high-up as yours, but the principle is the same regardless."

Suddenly, her interest was piqued. "What's your name?"

He stared at her, then brought a hand up to rub at his temples. "Where are my manners…? I'm sorry, the introductions slipped my mind." He extended a hand towards her. "Grouse Winchester, at your service."

"Weiss Schnee," she said, taking his hand and shaking it. "And please, do go on about Beacon. You have my attention."

They broke the handshake and he settled back into his seat, looking more relaxed than he had a few minutes ago. "Sure. Now, the thing about Beacon compared to the other schools is-"

The sound of something impacting the front of the car cut him off, followed a split second later by a small explosion that made all of them jump. Weiss blinked, confused, before looking back at Grouse.

For some reason, every bit of his previously calm demeanor had disappeared, replaced with icy-cold focus.

He raised one fist and rapped on the window to the driver's seat. "Hey! What's going on?!"

The driver quickly lowered the window. "No idea! Something hit the front of the car, then the engine just exploded!"

Grouse's focus was replaced with shock for a brief second before he managed to calm himself. He turned to his three teammates. "Out of the car; set up a perimeter."

Weiss glanced at him, startled. "Grouse?"

"Stay here," he said as he climbed out of his seat. "If you've got a signal on your scroll, call the police. I think we're about to have company."

The car door shut behind him, leaving her with her civilian driver. For all intents and purposes, she was alone. With shaking hands, the heiress fumbled around for her scroll, finally managing to open it and dial the number for emergency services.

The scroll rang once before the call was dropped.

Weiss' heart plummeted. "No, no, no; don't do this now, please..." she begged to nobody in particular as she tried frantically to redial the number.

Outside, the snow began to pick up, signaled by howling winds and freezing rain pounding against the roof of the car. The four Huntsmen were all silent save for the sounds of their weapons being readied as they waited for something to happen.

Seconds passed, and nothing ever came. Chancing a glance out a nearby window, Weiss saw one of the Huntsmen with his carbine braced against his shoulder, staring out into the snowstorm ahead.

He turned to where Grouse was standing. "See anything-"

A bullet tore its way out of the maelstrom in front of them, striking the man square in the face before detonating. Weiss screamed, as much from the shock of it as from the fear that she had just watched a man's head explode. To her relief, he started to wave the smoke away; his aura had been activated and had taken the hit for him, though it was clear that it had left him rattled. He raised his weapon and squeezed off several rounds towards where he had been shot from.

"You alright?!" Grouse shouted.

"I'm good!" he called back. "Knocked some of my fillings loose, but I'm up!"

"Did you see a muzzle flash?!"

"Negative – damn storm's too heavy!"

"Hold position!" Grouse approached the car window. "Do you have a signal?"

Terrified, Weiss shook her head. Grouse immediately turned back towards where the shot had originated from.

"Start making some noise, boys – we're on our own unless we get someone to investigate."

And then the street turned into a war zone. All four of them began firing into the snowstorm, desperately emptying magazines at nothing in the hopes that someone would hear them. And then, just as soon as it began, it was over, the four Huntsmen stopping to reload.

"That'll keep his head down," one of the men reported jovially as he replaced his rifle's spent magazine with a fresh one. "Grouse, do you think-"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence. A red blur came rushing out of the storm, slamming into him and carrying him off down the road with a shout. Through the wind, there was the sound of automatic gunfire punctuated by the occasional shot from something much, _much _bigger. It lasted for several seconds before there was the sound of something cutting through flesh, followed by a muffled scream that quickly turned into a sickening gurgle.

And then there was silence once more. The whole thing had lasted just a few seconds.

With his weapon raised, Grouse tentatively took a step forwards. "Brad, you out there?!"

For a few seconds, there was no response.

Then, one came in the form of another gunshot. This one struck another of the Huntsmen, and unlike the last one, it sent him flying back away from the car – a Gravity Dust round. Before anyone else could react, the red blur returned, charging ahead and slamming into him, sending him hurtling even farther away. This time, there were no further shots – just the sound of steel clashing against steel, followed again by the sound of something cutting through flesh, and then silence.

The one remaining team member besides Grouse swallowed nervously. "Grouse, what do we-"

"Form up on me," Grouse commanded. "Back-to-back. Don't let him sneak up on us. If one of us gets taken, the other goes in after him. Got it?"

The man nodded. Weiss watched as the man bounded over to his team leader, the two of them moving to stand back-to-back in front of the door she was currently cowering behind, their weapons at the ready. From her new position on the floor of the car, Weiss could see that both men were incredibly nervous.

It paled in comparison to what she was feeling.

Desperately, she again tried to use her scroll. Again, it refused to work. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, fuck this!" her driver suddenly shouted, throwing open his door and making a break for it. Weiss watched him go, partly out of bewilderment and partly out of hope. If he could make it, maybe she could-

There was a loud bang on the roof of the car, which caused her to scream. The two Huntsmen outside wasted no time in focusing their attention on whatever it was and opening fire. The war was back on once more, and this time it was even closer to her. Weiss cowered and covered her head with her hands, desperately hoping for help to arrive, or for Grouse to prevail. Outside, the sound of the storm had faded, replaced with automatic gunfire and the concussive blasts of _something_ she couldn't identify.

To her, it all sounded like the most macabre symphony she had ever heard.

Then the gunfire faded, replaced with the sound of metal screeching against metal. There was shouting, and desperate commands, and exclamations of pain… and then there was nothing. The blizzard returned, this time unaccompanied by any other noises. Somehow, her heart began to pound even faster. Perhaps Grouse had won…?

"Grouse…?" she tentatively called out.

The only response she got was the biggest blade she had ever seen in her life piercing the car door closest to her, then tearing it free. One hundred pounds of Dust-reinforced bulletproof steel was flung aside like nothing, leaving her completely exposed. Weiss screamed, then scrambled over to the other side of the car, desperate to escape her assailant.

And then she saw him… or rather, her.

She was clearly female, even through her heavy, blood-soaked winter clothing. She was short, only about as tall as Weiss was, but her weapon – an enormous scythe dripping with fresh gore and viscera – proved that she was as tough as they came. A plain, featureless white mask was settled across her face, exposing only the barest hints of her true identity – pale skin, short black hair with red tips, a set of wolf ears resting atop her head…

And a pair of silver eyes, which were staring at her in wide-eyed shock and confusion.

Weiss sat there and stared at her attacker, hyperventilating and wishing that there was something she could do. She wanted something, _anything _that could help – Myrtenaster, her fencing instructor, her big sister, even her mother… but none of them were here, and none of them were ever going to be here in time to save her. Tears poured down the heiress' cheeks and sobs racked her body as she stared at her soon-to-be killer, the Faunus' image burned into her mind for however long it would take before she was cut down like the four Huntsmen in front of her had been. Suddenly feeling colder than she ever had before in her life, Weiss wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes, hoping that her end would be quick and painless.

It never came.

It was several seconds before Weiss realized that she wasn't dead yet. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and looked to where the killer had been standing, and to her amazement, there was nobody there. Her heart skipped a beat. Was it all a trick? She started to count the seconds, desperate to see if this was just some kind of horrific game designed to lull her into a false sense of security. After thirty seconds of seeing nothing, she felt confident enough to chance taking a peek outside, in the hopes of running away before they came back. Tentatively, she crawled over to where the door had been torn free, being careful to avoid the places where blood had dripped off the Faunus and started to pool in the car.

Weiss poked her head out of the car, and immediately felt bile rise up in her throat.

There, several feet away, were Grouse and his teammate. Both of them were clearly dead, having been brutally killed. The unfamiliar Huntsman was covered in deep lacerations, and his head was missing, apparently having been blown to pieces by a large-caliber round. Blood, chunks of bone, and gray matter littered the area around his corpse.

Next to him, Grouse lay still, his body having been nearly bisected at the waist. His intestines trailed out of a deep cut in his stomach; from where she was sitting, Weiss could have sworn that she saw the white of his spine through the slice in his-

Weiss vomited, unable to hold back the bile in her throat any longer. She emptied the contents of her stomach just outside the car, then quickly settled back inside the vehicle and curled up in a little ball, unwilling to move and loudly and inconsolably crying at the sheer trauma of everything she had just witnessed.

That was how the police found her several minutes later when they finally arrived to investigate. She was taken to the hospital, and after being a clean bill of health, released to her family.

It took hours for Weiss to finally fall asleep that night; mostly, she laid awake and cried to herself. When she finally passed out, for the first time since she was a little girl, her nightmares were filled with images of monsters that lurked in the dark rather than images of her father.

* * *

The inside of the Bullhead was silent, save for Ruby's barely-audible grunts of pain as she patched herself up. The Huntsmen had done a number on her, as expected – in addition to the standard array of scrapes and bruises that came with a job such as this, she had also been left with what felt like a few fractured ribs, a bad sprain in her left ankle, some deep cuts on her forearms, and a bullet wound to her left shoulder. Of all of them, the gunshot was the most urgent. The .308 caliber round had pierced her shoulder and gone straight through, leaving her with a small entry hole and a much larger exit hole, though luckily it had somehow bypassed her subclavian artery entirely. With no bullet to take out, no bones to set, and no artery to stop from spurting, all she was left to do was clean the wound, then sew it up and let her aura take care of it.

Though that was easier said than done when her mind was already occupied.

Ruby let out a small gasp through the shirt in her mouth as she stuck the needle and thread through her shoulder yet again. This was something that should have taken her a few minutes to get done regularly, but she couldn't get the image of the Schnee girl's terrified face out of her head.

Something had gone wrong. Obviously, the intelligence Sienna had received was at fault, because Ruby knew that she would never authorize the death of a child, even if they were a Schnee. For that matter, she would know better than to try and have Ruby kill a kid – she may have spent the last couple of years killing people, but she still had standards. Clearly, this was all a big misunderstanding, because if Sienna had known that Weiss was the target, she would have called the whole thing off.

As far as Ruby was concerned, that was the absolute truth. The alternative – that Sienna had known that she had marked a child for death – was too horrifying to even consider.

The wolf Faunus let out another grunt as the needle pierced her skin one last time, finally closing up the wound entirely. Pulling the bloodstained, balled-up shirt from her mouth, she set the needle and thread aside and instead reached for the roll of bandages, intent on dressing the cuts on her forearms next. As she wrapped herself in gauze, she wondered what the best way to break the news to Sienna and Almost would be. She sighed when she realized that she was going to have to go with the direct approach.

'_Sorry to tell you, but your intelligence was faulty. The target was just a kid, so I couldn't kill her.'_

It sounded alright in her head, but she was sure that there was going to be some anger at her for failing, understandable as it was. Sienna, at least, was probably going to be quick to forgive her. Almost was going to take some convincing, but she was confident that she could eventually win him over.

Briefly, her mind went back to when he had first tried to have her kill a deer, and she had refused. He had been very angry back then, but after several days of training – and a lot of cuts and bruises on her part – he had mellowed out. Once she explained herself to him, she knew that he would eventually see reason.

The only question was how much he was going to make her hurt before that happened.

* * *

When Ruby finally arrived back at camp several days later, it was already past midnight. The wolf Faunus limped into camp, hissing every time she put weight on her left leg. The sooner she gave Sienna and Almost her after-action report, the better; she was looking forward to sleeping in her own tent after so long spent away from camp.

Soon enough, Sienna's tent was in sight. A small sigh of relief escaped her as she pushed through the tent flap and stepped inside.

The first thing that struck her was how dimly-lit the inside was. Normally, Sienna's tent was illuminated by a collection of torches. Now, for some reason, only a few of them were lit.

The next thing that struck her was that Sienna was entirely absent. The only one there was Almost, who was standing next to the table in the center of the tent, looking at something on his scroll.

Ruby cleared her throat, then limped over to him. "Hey, I'm back," she said. "Should I wait for Sienna, or…?"

Almost didn't say anything. In fact, he gave no indication that he had even noticed her presence. Ruby blinked, confused.

"Right, uh… I'm just gonna go ahead and start, that okay? I kinda want to get bed..." She took a breath. "Anyway, whatever intelligence you got was off. The target-"  
Without warning, Almost whirled around and buried his fist in her gut. Even with her aura active, Ruby felt it. She fell to her knees, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath, before looking up at him in confusion.

The smoldering glare he gave her in return made her want to disappear.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" he growled.

Ruby struggled for words. "W-wha-"

This time, he cut her off with a knee to her chest. She fell down to all fours, her eyes filling with tears and her lungs desperate for air. Before she could recover, he roughly grabbed her by the neck with one hand and raised her up until the two were eye-to-eye. He brought his arm back for another punch; Ruby flailed desperately in his grasp, choking for air, black beginning to fill the edges of her vision.

In a panic, her right hand fell to her hip, where her sidearm was holstered. She ripped it from its holster and angled it up at his face, but she never got to squeeze off a shot; his free hand shot forward and wrapped around the slide, crushing the front of the gun with ease before ripping it from her grasp and dropping it on the floor.

When that was done, he grabbed her wrist, and with a pulse of aura applied to his hand, broke it. Ruby barely felt it; she was too busy trying not to pass out from suffocation. Finally, salvation came in the form of him roughly slamming her to the floor; she felt several of her already-weakened ribs break on impact, but the pressure was finally released from her throat, allowing her to breathe. Greedily, she gulped down as much air as she could, ignoring the pain that filled her chest with every breath.

Before she could focus her attention away from breathing and towards escaping, he reached down, grabbed her left leg, and broke it as easily as he had her wrist. She let out a small cry of pain; he responded by once more grabbing her by the neck and picking her up with one hand, though mercifully he refrained from choking her out this time.

"Do you have any idea what you've cost us?" he growled. "This was our chance to finally strike back against the Schnees directly. We would have given our people a much-needed morale boost and at the same time removed a future threat. Now, we will never get that chance again." His eyes narrowed. "What do you have to say for yourself, Rose?"

"S-she was just a kid!" Ruby protested. "I couldn't kill-"

The tent was once more filled with the sound of splintering bone as he shattered her right arm, causing her to scream. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, the pain finally too much for her to take.

"Look at you," Almost said with a snarl. "All this training and you're still weak. You're incapable of doing what needs to be done. You truly are your mother's daughter, in all the worst ways."

"D-don't talk about my mom like that!" Ruby shouted. Her obstinance was rewarded with another broken arm.

"That's it, isn't it?" Almost asked, letting go of her now-useless limb. "Despite everything we've tried to do to teach you otherwise, you still care for humanity – Summer's doing, obviously."

He carried Ruby over to the nearby table and roughly slammed her down onto it. She let out a low moan of pain, didn't try to escape; in her state, getting away was impossible. Through eyes slick with tears, she watched as her mentor pulled a knife from his belt and placed it blade-first in a nearby torch.

"It's been eight years, yet you still don't seem to understand who you're working for, and why," Almost said as he watched his knife heat up. "But that changes now. Tonight, I'm going to give you a permanent reminder."

He pulled the knife from the torch. From her position on the table, Ruby could see that it was glowing white-hot. Her heart plummeted as he approached her position, then grabbed the shirt she was wearing and tore it off. She tried to struggle, but with her injuries, it was easy for him to pin her down and keep her from moving. Ruby watched, terrified, as the knife hovered just inches away from her bare stomach.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Rose," Almost spoke, his voice low.

"Don't ever betray us again."

The knife came down. Immediately, the sound and scent of burning flesh filled the tent, though the former was quickly drowned out by the hoarse scream that tore its way from Ruby's throat. She thrashed around, but to no avail; her mentor was more than capable of holding her still, even as he carved something into her stomach. Ruby only got to experience it for a few seconds, but it was the most intense pain she had ever felt in her whole life. However, the pain and the blood loss, coupled with her other injuries, finally proved too much for her to handle.

The last thing she felt before she blacked out was the sting of betrayal lancing through her heart.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?!"

Almost didn't even flinch at his leader's shout, instead simply continuing to stand there, his arms crossed. "You told me to punish her for her failure, and I did."

"I didn't mean to brand her like a fucking animal!" Sienna screamed. "I spent years teaching her that branding was something the Schnees did to us, and what do you do?! You go and do the same damn thing to her! How do you think she's going to react when she wakes up and sees what you did to her?!"

"Ideally, she'll remember her place," Almost growled.

Sienna stared at him, shocked. "You really have no idea what you've done, do you? That's got to be it. You just don't see how much work you've undone with your stupidity. Eight years, down the drain because of one moment of weakness. Do you have any idea how hard I'm going to have to work to get her back on our side after the shit you just put her through?"

His eyes narrowed. "_You _will do nothing. She is _my _apprentice, not yours."

"Not anymore," Sienna growled. "You're done training her, and I'm not just saying that because I'm pissed at you right now. If you honestly think she'll listen to a word you say after that little torture session, you're wrong. Letting her continue to train under you will do nothing more than drive her even further away."

Almost uncrossed his arms and marched over to her, a scowl on his face. "You told me I would be able to train her as I saw fit."

"And you pissed that chance away when you mutilated her and nearly killed her," Sienna replied evenly.

He let out a growl. "If she can't bounce back after that, then maybe she's not worth training. Maybe she is like her mother after all."

"...Is that what this is about?" Sienna asked. He paused, which didn't go unnoticed. Her eyes widened in surprise. "It is, isn't it?"

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"Suddenly, it all makes sense," the High Leader replied. "You never really cared about training her to be the perfect little assassin, did you? That was just a pretense for you to..." She trailed off, leaving her sentence unfinished. After a few seconds, she turned back to him, a glare on her face. "That's why you don't want me to take her away from you. You're nothing but a sadist, taking your rage out on her because she's-"

"Enough!" Almost shouted, cutting her off. Getting right up in her face, he said, "For all my grievances with you, I can't deny that out of everyone in the organization, only you have what it takes to bring our race to a new golden age, one free of human oppression. If you still want that future, then you won't event think about finishing that sentence."

Sienna grit her teeth at his implicit threat. It was audacious of him to threaten her like that, but that didn't change the fact that she was completely outmatched. Reluctantly, she backed down.

"Fine, I'll drop that tangent," she said, forcing the words out. "But I stand by what I said. You're done training her."

"And who else is going to do it? You?"

"I'll look for someone else, but if nobody else can do it, then yes."

Almost barked out a laugh at that. It was the first time she had ever heard him laugh. "We both know she's far more capable than you are, even at such a young age."

"She'll still learn more under my tutelage than she would under yours, and you know it," Sienna fired back. "Or do you honestly think she's going to look at you with anything besides fear when she wakes up? Fact is, even if I wasn't ordering you to leave her be, she still wouldn't be learning a thing from you, no matter how hard you tried to push her."

"What will you have me do instead, then?" Almost asked. "Unless you intend to waste my combat skills as well."

"You will continue to do what you've been doing, but you won't be based in Menagerie. Pick somewhere else – I don't care where, just so long as it's not here."

He grunted. "Very well. If there's nothing else, then I'll take my leave."

She blinked, surprised. "You're free to go."

He said nothing more, instead simply turning around and leaving. As soon as he was gone, Sienna let out a heavy sigh and slumped down onto her bed.

A lot had just happened, but ultimately, she had helped to keep Ruby safe, for now. Even if her training would suffer, it was better than letting him stay around her. She just wished that she had seen the signs earlier; maybe then she would have been able to prevent what had happened an hour ago. Ruby was going to need a lot of time to heal, both physically and mentally, but she was strong. Sienna was confident that she would break out of it.

That left the question of what to do with her once she healed. Truthfully, the last thing Sienna wanted to do was keep sending her on assassination missions – despite her best efforts, she had grown fond of the little wolf Faunus – but unfortunately, she had been right all those years ago when she had said that Ruby would be a valuable asset to the White Fang. Even with her limited time in the field, they had made more gains than ever before. With the most outspoken racists either dead or keeping their heads down out of fear, Sienna found it much easier to negotiate with the more reasonable humans. If Ruby were to stop doing what she had been doing, it would be a huge setback.

Sienna let out a heavy sigh. Ultimately, it was a choice she had to make: one girl, or the well-being of her entire race. As much as she cared about Ruby, it wasn't a difficult one. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one.

_I'm sorry, sweetie, _she thought.

With that decided, it left only one thing for her to focus on: Almost. When their conversation had first started, he had been obstinate. He had only gotten worse as time had gone on, and Sienna had figured him out. After his threat, she thought he was about to lose control. It had been a surprise when he had managed to calm down, and an even bigger one when he had rapidly gone from disagreeing with her to accepting her decision.

Needless to say, she knew him well enough to be suspicious.

"What are you planning…?" she whispered to herself.

* * *

Waking up, the first thing Ruby was aware of was pain. It wasn't like any of the pain she got as a result of being in the field. No, this was different. Everything ached, except for her stomach, which felt as if it were covered with pins and needles. Briefly, she wondered what could have even caused that kind of sensation.

Then she remembered.

Her heart pounding, the wolf Faunus swallowed nervously as she craned her neck to look down at her stomach. From her position in the hospital bed, she could see that her torso was bare, save for a tight wrapping of gauze all around her stomach and chest. It was stained with dried blood and pus, coloring it a sickening yellow and dull red. Instinct told her the best thing to do was to leave it alone, but she couldn't do that.

She _had _to know what Almost had carved into her.

Ruby moved her left arm, doing her best not to wince when she saw it in a cast. A quick look over to her other arm and her leg revealed the same. Still, she knew that all of her broken bones were going to pale in comparison to what had happened to her stomach. Shakily, she reached out and grabbed a handful of gauze, then slowly began to peel it away.

The pain came back again. It felt like she was peeling her own skin off, yet as bad as it was, it was still nothing in comparison to what had injured her in the first place. The wound would have to be wrapped again once she had gotten a good look at it, but she could do that herself, even with two broken arms – her hands were still free, after all. That would come later, though – all she cared about now was seeing what had happened to her.

After a few agonizingly slow minutes, the last of the gauze came free. Ruby brushed the tears out of her eyes, then took a deep breath before looking to see what had happened to her.

Beneath the fresh pus and blackened, charred skin, she was just barely able to make out the familiar symbol of a wolf's head, backed by three claw marks, stretching from oblique to oblique.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, then fell backwards onto her bed. Her stomach screamed in protest at the sudden movement, but she didn't care. Whatever pain she felt now was drowned out by the feeling of betrayal that settled over her.

_Why…?_

That one word continued to echo in her mind. For eight years, she had done whatever Almost and Sienna had wanted. For the past three, that had included killing whoever they told her to. When they had given her an order, she had carried it out without complaint, no matter how uncomfortable it had made her feel after the fact. She had done so willingly, because she owed them everything she had, and because they had never once given her any reason to doubt them. Ruby had always viewed herself as unflinchingly loyal to the cause, no matter how much it sometimes hurt her to have to fight for it, and for as long as she had been aware of what she had been fighting for, she had figured that Almost had known that about her.

Why, then, had he seen fit to do this to her?

She had failed, that much was true, but was the reason for it not understandable? The target had been incorrect – it should have been Jacques, or Willow, or even Winter. Not Weiss. Did Almost not understand when she had tried to explain that to him? No, that couldn't be it – she _had _explained; he had listened to her, and it had made no difference.

And where had Sienna been during the whole thing? For every mission besides this one, Ruby had come back to camp and found her already waiting in her tent. This was the only time that she was not only absent, but that Almost had been there alone.

Ruby furrowed her brow. What was going on? None of it made sense. Even if she went back to when she had first been assigned the mission, it still made no sense. The mission itself was incredibly vague; Sienna and Almost had acted strange while giving it to her; the target had been incorrect; finally, Sienna was absent in favor of Almost, who proceeded to torture her for her 'failure'. Was it all just an accident? Part of her wanted to scream that it was, but deep down, she knew the truth.

It was all too coincidental to be an accident. One or two of them would have been believable, but there was no way that all of them could have happened at once. From the beginning, it had all been intentional. Her mission had been purposely vague. Sienna and Almost had tried to give her a rousing speech so she wouldn't falter. When she had failed, she had been punished severely for it.

None of it was an accident. Her mission had always been to kill Weiss Schnee. They had purposely kept that a secret from her, knowing the she would have refused to do it since it meant killing a kid – an innocent, even if Weiss was a Schnee. Even knowing that Ruby considered hurting innocents to be unforgivable, they had sent her anyway, hoping that she would be too caught up in combat and too high off her own adrenaline to notice exactly who she was cutting down until it was too late for her to stop herself. They wanted Ruby to kill a child – a girl her sister's age – and when she had failed to do so, she had been punished.

She couldn't even act like it had all been Almost's doing, as much as she wanted to. The fact that Sienna had been absent meant that she knew what he was going to do.

More than likely, she had been the one to order him to do it.

The realization shook Ruby to her core. All her life, she had trusted Almost and Sienna. In a moment, they had completely broken that trust. They had attempted to get her to violate one of the key tenets of her own moral code, and then when she refused to do so, had forced her to pay a heavy price. In that moment, Ruby saw them for what they really were, rather than what she thought them to be: nothing but liars eager to take advantage of her.

Eight years of thinking they were her friends, gone in an instant. If they were truly her friends, they would have never done that to her. Ruby felt numb at it all.

Numbness quickly gave way to horror when a terrifying thought suddenly came to her.

If they had been lying about this, what else had they been lying about?

Frantically, Ruby tried to go over everything she remembered them teaching her over the last eight years. Beneath all the training and education she had been provided, one thing stood out from the rest.

The idea that the White Fang were the good guys.

This couldn't have been a one-time thing. Sienna wouldn't have just gone from fighting the good fight to ordering the death of a kid, even if that kid was a Schnee. No, something had to come before it, and it was something that Ruby herself had to be involved in, if they thought that she was even capable of what they had asked her to do.

Something like her other kills, perhaps.

With a growing sense of dread, Ruby realized that they would never have expected her to be capable of killing an innocent person, especially one like Weiss, if she hadn't done so already. Her heart began pounding in her chest as she started to hyperventilate, the memory of every kill coming back to her. How many of them had truly deserved what Sienna had said they did? Were all those guards Ruby had cut through to get to her targets truly just as culpable as the people they were protecting, like she had been told?

Had every single one of them been a lie?

Ruby didn't know – _couldn't _know – and the reality of that was terrifying. For all she knew, she could have been killing nothing but innocent people the whole time. What would that make her, then? This, she did know, and even thinking about it scared her more than anything.

It made her just as bad as the man who had killed her mother.

Images of the people that had died by her hands began to flash through her head, accompanied by small things that she had missed in the moment, but that now seemed obvious to her – a family photo in the house of a politician she had stalked and murdered; a wedding ring on the finger of a bodyguard she had decapitated… just how many families had she destroyed, all for absolutely no gain?

And then, suddenly, there were new images in her head – images with a sense of familiarity, yet twisted and perverted, unrecognizable to her. Her father stared at her, his gaze full of nothing but adoration, before suddenly shifting to disgust and anger. Yang was there, too, staring at her, horrified and in disbelief, as if unwilling to believe everything that her sister was responsible for.

And in front of all of them, there was her mother, who was staring at her with a blank expression, like she was unsure of what to make of the fact that her youngest daughter had killed so many innocent people in cold blood.

Slowly, her blank expression turned to one of hatred. Ruby felt her heart crack down the middle.

Then all three of them turned their backs on her, and what was left of her heart shattered.

"I-I'm sorry!" Ruby cried out. "I didn't know! I swear I'm not a bad person! Please, don't leave me!"

No matter how much she plead, Ruby knew it wouldn't change anything. The truth was that she had become what she hated. Nothing she did could ever take back all the evil she had done. She was a monster, and she knew it.

How could she hope to face her family again? She knew that answer, too – she couldn't. If they ever found out what she had done, they would hate her. Her eyes widened at the realization, and a small whimper left her throat.

She was never going to be able to see her family again.

And it was all her fault.

That realization was the one that finally broke her. She brought her knees up to her chest, uncaring of how doing so caused her stomach to flare up in agony, and wrapped her arms around them before lying down on her side, loudly and uncontrollably crying.

"Dad… Yang… I'm so sorry..." she managed to choke out between sobs.

Her apology would never change anything. As much as she wished that wasn't the case, she knew that it would always be true. Her old home was gone. So was her new home. If she tried to run away, Sienna would just send Almost after her, and she would be tortured once again.

For the first time since her mother had died, Ruby Rose felt completely and utterly alone.

There was no escape.

Slowly, her gaze drifted down to the tray of surgical tools next to her bed.

* * *

**And with that, we're officially out of the backstory segment. From here on out, the proper story begins. **

**As I stated before, all of this was done to justify the way I'll be writing Ruby in this story. Basically, early in development, I had to ask myself, "How am I going to be able to justify this rendition of Ruby Rose when she's so different from the canon version?" Well, you now have your answer. Is it extreme? Oh, for sure. But with something like this, I figured that it was better to go too far than not go far enough. Hopefully, I've done an okay job of convincing you that the version of Ruby you're about to see makes sense in the context of the story I'm trying to tell. If you're still doubtful, then… well, I'll be honest: I have no idea what else I could have done to try and sell you on it. We've got, in no particular order: an abusive childhood dressed up as Huntress training; social isolation; an "education" that is basically just thinly-veiled propaganda; life as a child soldier; watching her mother die right in front of her; being separated from her surviving family; being tortured almost to death by people she thought she could trust; and finally, realizing that everything she's held to be true for the past eight years was a complete lie, and that she's become what she hates. If that's not enough to win you over, I don't know what will. **

**Oh, and that's just what I've chosen to show you all now. There might be more coming up later. No promises, though.**

**Anyway, let me know what you think the repercussions of everything that's happened here will be. We're rapidly getting to the point where all of this is going to start to matter, so I'm anxious to hear everyone's predictions. As far as progress goes, we're done with backstory now. The timeline should start to look very familiar very shortly… for the time being. Don't expect it to stay that way for the whole story – I mean, what's the point of writing fan fiction if I'm just going to follow canon?**

**But I digress. You'll see what I have planned soon enough. I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Next update: Saturday, January 18.**


	5. Chapter 5

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 5

* * *

With a distant echo of thunder, the clouds finally opened up, letting loose with the torrent that they had been threatening the town with all day. As the first drops came, the people began to leave, abandoning their makeshift shelters and running somewhere dry instead. This was understandable; most of them didn't have a single lien to their names, let alone suitable shelter or clothing to deal with the elements. In such a situation, bunching tightly together beneath an overhang somewhere was the best most of them could do.

In the midst of the small crowd running for cover, one figure continued to walk on, unperturbed by the sudden downpour. She merely reached for the hood attached to her black cloak and pulled it over her head, then continued walking. As she did, she paid no mind to what she saw around her.

Once, the sight of so many Faunus stuck in poverty, struggling to even obtain a decent meal for themselves would have lit a fire in her belly, especially after seeing how the well-off portion of Mistral lived in comparison. Watching all these people – _her _people – clothed in little more than dirty rags, emaciated, sometimes guiding along equally impoverished children, as they struggled to even keep themselves dry in the face of a rainstorm would have only served as encouragement for her to take to her task with renewed vigor, all in the name of equality.

Two years ago, she would have done all that and more. But that was back when she believed in what she was doing.

Now, looking at them, she only felt empty.

Taking care not to bump into anyone, Ruby maneuvered her way through the throng of people, the whole time making sure her cloak was drawn up against her body in order to keep her weapons concealed. Anywhere else, and nobody would have even balked at her gear. Here, nice equipment simply made her a target for someone desperate to find something they could fence in order to buy themselves some clothes or a decent meal. Desperate people such as this were of little threat to her, but the opposite wasn't true – even if she attempted to fend them off non-lethally, their malnourished states meant that it was all too easy for her to accidentally do more damage than she might have intended. Her solution was to conceal the expensive gear that she was carrying with something, which just so happened to be a cheap cloak she had found in a pawn shop soon after arriving in the slums.

If it were up to her, she would have gone with anything else, but it was the only thing they had that would both hide her weapons and keep the impending rain off of her, so she had reluctantly taken possession of it, and the unpleasant thoughts it brought with it.

At least it wasn't white.

Thankfully, it only needed to last until the end of today. She would get rid of it on her way out of the city somehow. Perhaps it would be a good idea to stay in the slums and look for someone who really needed it? At least that way she would be doing something good, instead of just what she came here to do.

The thought of her assignment caused her ears to flatten against her skull. This time, it wasn't even a human she was being sent to kill; rather, it was a former White Fang member who had defected years ago. Whether it was intentional or not, Sienna was sending her a message with this one.

Try to run, and we'll find you.

It was somewhat absurd, of course; Sienna had no way of knowing that Ruby had ever even considered running away. Indeed, she had considered it… for all of about ten seconds, until she sat down and realized that the logistics made it almost impossible. For one, there was nowhere she could go. For another, she was too valuable to be allowed to walk around freely; Almost would be dispatched to hunt her down as soon as it became clear that she had run, and whatever he did to her would make his punishment two years ago look like child's play. Finally, and most importantly, Sienna had already demonstrated that she had zero qualms ordering the deaths of innocent people, so it was highly likely that she would target Ruby's father and sister to try and draw her out.

None of that was to say that the thought of escaping never crossed her mind. In fact, the opposite was true – she constantly imagined what it would be like to escape. But as far as she could tell, the reality was that it would never happen unless she put her family in the line of fire, and she would never do that. If it came down to her or them, Ruby would willingly give herself up for them every time without hesitation. No matter how much she fantasized about it, it would always remain nothing but a dream.

Ruby suddenly shook her head, doing her best to clear her mind. She had a mission to accomplish and a goal to attain, and daydreaming would help her with neither.

A few more minutes of walking finally brought her to the target building. According to her intel, she wouldn't be able to miss it – it was the one building on the block that wasn't completely run-down and ramshackle. In fact, just looking at it, it seemed to have been freshly painted. Curious, but ultimately irrelevant to what she had to.

A quick survey around the building, and Ruby was able to determine that nobody appeared to be home. Maneuvering over to the back, she approached the back door, which was locked. It might have been enough to turn away the average looter, but Ruby was anything but that. A brief kick right next to the lock sent the door flying open. Pulling her combat knife from its shoulder sheath, the wolf Faunus entered the house, keeping an ear out for any movement. When none came after several seconds, she shut the door behind her and started clearing rooms.

The house was small, meaning it took her only a few minutes to investigate the entire building. Nothing out of the ordinary – a living area, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. Curiously, both rooms looked as if they had been freshly used, despite there being only a single target. A heavy sigh escaped her when she realized that Sienna was likely lying to her about this job, too.

Even if that were the case, Ruby intended to follow her orders to the letter. Sienna had sent her to kill one person, and that was what she was going to do.

If she was going to kill innocent people, the least she could do was kill as few as possible.

With nothing else to do but wait, Ruby strode over to one of the bedrooms and took a seat on the bed, burying her head in her hands. No matter how many times she did this, dealing with the aftermath never got any easier. She did her best to compartmentalize everything in order to keep going, but it was never easy. On a few particularly bad occasions, this hadn't worked; things had deteriorated quickly from there, and she had-

The sound of a door opening caught her attention, causing her head to jolt up. It was followed a few moments later by someone moving around, then stopping in the kitchen. Ruby let out a heavy sigh, then reached for her knife once more. Hopefully, he wouldn't have his aura up. If that was the case, she would make it quick – a stab directly to the base of the skull in order to sever the brain stem. He'd be dead before he even hit the ground; there would be no suffering at all. If that was out of the question, she would settle for a stab between his fourth and fifth ribs, directly to his heart. Not quite as instant, but the only real substitute.

Of course, if he was experienced enough to know how to keep his aura activated at all times, this was all a moot point. For his sake, Ruby hoped that wasn't the case.

Rounding the corner with her blade at the ready, Ruby finally got a close look at him, seeing him looking through his fridge for something.. He was tall and very well-built, with fair skin and dark hair, and noticeable sideburns on either side of his face. She couldn't tell what kind of Faunus he was, but that didn't matter. His description matched her target, which meant it had to be him.

Relief flashed through her when she realized he was alone and unarmed. Hopefully, this would be simple and clean. Tentatively, she took another step closer.

"If you're going to kill me, could you at least give me the option to see who you are?"

Ruby froze at the sound of his voice, her eyes widening. As she stared at him, unsure what to do, he surprised her by raising his arms in surrender.

"Heard the floor creak when you came around the corner. I know why you're here. I also know that if they only sent one of you, you must be good enough that I don't stand a chance. Plus, I'm completely unarmed. Grant me this request and I promise I'll go quietly."

The wolf Faunus hesitated. Everything she had been taught was screaming at her that it was a trick of some kind… but what did that matter? He was unarmed, and while he struck an imposing figure, she had almost certainly killed tougher opponents than him in the past. He was no threat to her. Plus, he was offering a way for her to take him out as peacefully as possible. It wouldn't assuage her guilt completely, not by a long shot, but it would certainly help her feel a little less awful. Carefully, she nodded.

"Okay."

At the sound of her voice, he tensed. Keeping his hands raised in surrender, he turned around, a confused look on his face. Upon meeting her gaze, confusion quickly gave way to shock, and then rage.

"So, this is what they've become?" he spat. "Sending a little girl to do their wet work? If I was ever doubtful about leaving, I'm definitely not anymore. How old are you?"  
Ruby tensed at that. His expression relaxed slightly, though his rage never completely dropped.

"Kid, you've got me dead to rights. I'm not dumb enough to think that if they sent you I'd ever get away, and I already gave my word that I'd go without a fight if you let me get a look at you. And on a more personal level, I've made it a point not to hurt kids, and I don't intend to do anything to the contrary, even at the very end."

"...Fifteen," Ruby whispered.

He growled. "Who trained you? Sienna herself, right? That fucking bitch..." He sighed. "How long they been training you?"

This time, she was silent. It didn't matter; her silence told him all he needed to know.

His expression turned to one of pity. "I'm sorry, kid."

"What for?"

"For what they've done to you. I can tell just by looking at you that you don't want to do this – you look like you're about to fall to pieces, and you haven't even started yet. Somehow, they're forcing you into this. What do they have on you?"

"What does it matter to you?" Ruby snapped.

"Because I can help you."

She blinked, surprised. Had she really just heard him say that…? It was certainly tempting… but at the same time, it seemed too good to be true. More than anything, it sounded like the last plea of a dying man.

"No, you can't..." she muttered.

"Try me," the man countered. "Why do you think Sienna wants me dead? I've been around since the organization was first founded, long before it turned to violence. I've seen it all, and helped plenty of kids just like you get out when they realized what a mess they had landed themselves in. The least you can do is hear me out – you won't lose anything if you do, and if you still don't believe me, then you're free to cut me down like Sienna wants you to." A small chuckle escaped him. "You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. You might as well hear this old man out."

Ruby swallowed nervously. "...Why? Why do you care so much?"

"Truthfully? Because you remind me of my son."

Her eyes immediately widened, causing her to look around in a panic. If she did this, she'd be taking another parent away from their child. Seeing her panicked expression, the man realized he'd made a mistake.

"It's alright, kid. He's not going to cry over me or anything – he's dead. Got himself killed raiding an SDC warehouse a few years back."

Ruby focused on him, her expression no less frantic and her grip on her knife shaky. "B-but the bed in the other room…"

"Isn't his," the man assured her. "That room is just a guest room I use to let people stay with me while I try to find them a way to get out of the White Fang without being discovered. The last person to use it left two days ago, and I haven't had a chance to clean it up just yet. I promise you that it's just me."

His conviction helped to relax her. Ruby took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart, then focused on him once more. He stared back, looking very concerned.

"What are you doing here, kid?" he asked. "The White Fang is no place for you."

Ruby looked down at the floor. "...You're wrong," she admitted. "You don't know the things I've done to get here..."

"I can guess. If they sent you after me, then I doubt that this is your first time killing someone. Beyond that, I don't know. What I do know is this: it's not too late for you to make a change. If you want to escape, I can help you."

"...No, you can't," Ruby replied. "It's not about me. If it was, I would have left a long time ago. It's about-"

"Your family?" he interrupted, taking her by surprise. "You're not the only one I've heard that from. Are they in the White Fang, too?"

"N-no, but I know they'll go after them if I leave…"

"So you're going to stay in to keep them safe?" At her nod, he sighed. "I understand. It certainly makes sense, in any case. But it doesn't change anything."

"W-what?" Ruby asked, shocked.

"You heard me," he replied evenly. "You should still leave."

"H-how can you say that?! I can't just leave them to die!"

"So you're just going to keep doing what you're doing? Kid, look at yourself – you're on the verge of a damn breakdown. You're a depressed wreck, clearly eaten up with guilt. You look like you haven't slept in days – I don't even have to ask to know that that's because of the nightmares. You keep up on this path, and things are only going to get worse for you. If that happens, there's no telling what you might do."

"I don't have a choice! If I leave, they're in the line of fire! Better me than them!"

"Would they agree?"

Ruby looked away in shame. "...They would if they knew what I've done."

"They don't know you're in the White Fang?"

She shook her head. "...No. I haven't seen them in ten years..."

"Sienna took you from your family?" he asked in shock.

"I went with her willingly..."

"At that age? I doubt that. She might have convinced you to come along of your own free will, but whatever she told you, it wasn't true. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into. That's her fault, not yours." He gave her a sympathetic look. "They're probably worried sick about you. You should go home."

"No," Ruby said, her voice coming out choked. "I can't. After everything I've done… they would hate me. They'd send me away, or try to kill me."

"No, they wouldn't," he assured her. "Kid, you need to go back to them."

"I can't!" Ruby shouted. "Don't you get it?! Even if Sienna wasn't going to hunt them down to draw me out, I don't deserve them anymore!" Her shoulders slumped. "It's too late. And if that's all you have to say to me, then I guess you can't help me..."

"That's not true," he replied. "Look, I know how you feel. I think you're wrong, but I understand. Even if you don't want to go back to them right now, I can still help you. All I want in return is for you to say that one day, you'll go home. Even if you don't believe it, it would put the part of me that understands how your dad feels at ease. Can you do that for me?"

The wolf Faunus hesitated. Part of her still believed that his offer wasn't genuine, that it was some kind of trick designed to get her to let her guard down… but at the same time, it was tempting. If there was truly a way out for her, then she wanted to hear it. And if all he wanted in return was a promise she had no intention of ever keeping? Well, that was too good to pass up.

"...You're sure you can help me?" she asked softly.

He nodded. "I'm positive. Are you willing to give me a chance?"

She swallowed nervously before slowly nodding. "...I am."

"And your family?"

"...One day, I'll seek them out."

The words felt dirty coming out of her mouth. The very act of saying them made her feel uncomfortable. Still, the man seemed satisfied. He relaxed, lowering his hands until they fell to his sides, and let out a breath.

"Okay. I gave my word, and I intend to keep it. Wait here while I get something – nothing dangerous, I promise!" he added, seeing her tense. "It's a box of my son's things that I think can help you. If you don't trust me, then you're welcome to hold me at knifepoint while I go get it."

This man was weird. He was too open, too trusting – nothing like the people she had known in the White Fang, and definitely nothing like the people she had spent the last few years fighting. Either he was dedicated to whatever trick he was trying to pull, or he was extremely confident that she wouldn't get suspicious and decide to strike first.

In either case, against her better judgment, Ruby was going to give him what she was sure he wanted.

"...I trust you," she said tentatively. She sheathed her knife, an act which surprised her as much as it did him. "...Hurry back."

He nodded in understanding before disappearing into one of the bedrooms, leaving her there by herself. Anxiously, she waited for him to return, intently listening as he rummaged around the room for something. Finally, after a minute, he came back carrying a small cardboard box. Directing her over to the kitchen table, he placed the box down and began to gently lay its contents out in front of her, taking care not to damage any of it.

Whatever she had expected him to show her, this wasn't it. Faded papers quickly covered the table – old brochures, pamphlets, and questionnaires. Handwritten correspondence followed shortly after; Ruby noticed that the man was extremely careful with some of them. Glimpsing at those, she could that the handwriting was a lot more rough than on the others. It didn't take much for her to connect the dots and realize that those were letters that his son had written.

With a start, she realized that he was putting a lot of trust in her by letting her look at all of this. It was all clearly very sentimental to him, and judging by how many of the papers were faded, stained, or wrinkled, he was obviously confident that she wouldn't damage them in any way. Swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, Ruby focused on the nearest brochure, picking it up and beginning to read off of it, starting with the bold letterhead on the front.

"Beacon Academy…?"

He nodded. "Yeah. My son wanted to be a Huntsman before I pushed him into joining the White Fang instead. After he died, I couldn't bear to get rid of any of this stuff – felt like I'd be spitting on his dream and disrespecting him even more than I already had."

"Why are you showing me all of this?"

"Isn't it obvious? I think you should apply to Beacon."

She gave him a look like he had just grown a second head. "...You want me to be a Huntress?"

That earned her a nod. "If you're not going to return home, this is the next best place. You don't have anywhere to go, and you'll have to dodge the White Fang the whole time. If you're in Beacon, you're practically guaranteed a home, plus four years of safety – the White Fang would be crazy to launch on attack on a Huntsman Academy, not only because they'd get beaten in an instant, but because it'd be terrible for PR. They'll even let you stay there over the breaks if you explain that you've got nowhere else to go. I think Beacon would be a great place until you figure something out."

Ruby stared at the brochure in her hands wordlessly, shame welling up inside of her. She had spent the last few years fighting and killing Huntsmen, and this man wanted her to live with them? Even if they never found out about her past – and if she had any say in it, they never would – the very idea of it made her uncomfortable, like she was sullying the memory of the good people she had killed by trying to follow in their footsteps.

And yet, she couldn't deny that his reasoning made sense. It would provide for four years of safety, as well as a place to stay. In addition, it would also provide a place for her to train and get stronger, in preparation for pursuing her ultimate goal.

"What about the other academies?" she asked.

"Beacon not appealing to you?"

She shook her head. "I don't know anything about any of them."

"Oh, you want to know your options?" At that, she nodded. "Fair enough, I guess. I'll admit to being biased towards Beacon – it was my boy's first choice, after all – but for Faunus, there are really only two choices, those being Beacon or Shade. Atlas has made advances under General Ironwood, and Haven is currently being run by a Faunus, but unless you were born in those places, I wouldn't recommend going there if you're a Faunus – the people and the government for both aren't exactly Faunus-friendly.

"Between Beacon and Shade, either one would work, but Shade is located in Vacuo, which has a heavy White Fang presence since the whole place is lawless. They're generally pretty docile since people in Vacuo tend to be open-minded, but given your situation, I don't think you'd want to take the risk. That leaves Beacon. Beacon is about as good as it gets for Faunus outside Vacuo – Vale isn't nearly as bad as Mistral and Atlas when it comes to discrimination, meaning you'll have an easier time there. Plus, Headmaster Ozpin has been a very vocal ally towards Faunus, even lending support to the early, non-violent White Fang. If nothing else, you can trust him to have your back."

As he finished his explanation, Ruby relaxed. If nothing else, Beacon seemed like the right fit for her between all four of the schools.

There was one problem, though.

"How do I get in?"

The man sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "That's the hard part," he admitted. "In theory, you have to be seventeen to apply to any Huntsman Academy. In practice, they're willing to bend the rules a bit – the Grimm are unpredictable, so you often end up with towns getting wiped out and teenagers who have a decent amount of training but nowhere else to go and no family to turn to left to fend for themselves. The academies can't afford to just turn away people with training and a desire to learn more, not when the Grimm are a constant threat, so they'll often take in people who are a bit older or a bit younger than the suggested age." He focused on her. "'Course, we're generally talking a few months younger, maybe a year or two older. As far as I know, there's not really a precedent for someone as young as you being granted entry – usually, they'll point you towards a combat school first, or assign you a Huntsman as a mentor until you're ready to apply."

The mention of possibly getting another mentor made her eyes widen. A pang of fear shot through her as all the memories of training under Almost came rushing back. She had just started to tremble in fear when she felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder. Looking up in surprise, her terrified gaze met the man's comforting one.

"Hey now, there's nothing to worry about," he assured her. "If they assign you a mentor, it'll be someone specifically vetted by the headmaster. We're talking an experienced Huntsman, one with an impeccable service record and who's good with kids. They'll be more like a friend than a teacher, and they definitely won't train you the same way the White Fang was training you."

His explanation helped put her at ease, but she was still wary.

"Of course, none of that will matter, because you're going to get accepted in a different way."

That, at least, got her attention. She tilted her head, confused, and he gave her a small grin.

"Ozpin likes to make exceptions. Out of all the headmasters, he's the one most willing to bend the rules. Normally, I'd recommend telling him your story, but something tells me that you'd rather keep that close to your chest." She nodded, and he sighed. "That makes things more difficult, but it's still far from impossible. In that case, you should get into contact with him and offer to demonstrate your skills. If you're as good as Sienna seems to think you are, that should be more than enough to convince him to give you a shot. Sound good?"

Another nod. By this point, her heart was pounding in anticipation, though it quickly died down when she remembered something.

"...What about my family?" she asked. "How do I keep them safe?"

He sighed again. "At this point, you need to trust them to keep themselves safe." Seeing she was about to protest, he added, "I'm not saying that to be heartless, I'm saying that because there's nothing else you can do. If you're not willing to approach them, then your options are limited. At the same time, you can't stay in the White Fang – being stuck doing this any longer is going to devastate you. You need to do what's best for you, kid. And while you might not agree with me, I know that if your family was here, they'd want you to do the same thing. I know that if you were my son, that's how I'd feel."

He put his hand on her shoulder again. "This whole time, you've been doing this to keep them safe. Now, you need to let them return the favor. If you trust them, you'll let them do this for you. Then, when the time is right, you can do what's best for all of you."

Ruby bit her lip, pondering his words. As much as she hated the idea of leaving her family to fend for themselves against Sienna, she had to admit that he had a point. Her earlier resistance to the idea of fleeing had crumbled in the face of a tangible plan to make it a reality, and as terrible as it made her feel to put her family at risk, the idea that she would no longer have to kill innocent people was too enticing of an opportunity for her to pass up.

And, in a way, he was right. Eventually, she _would_ be able to do what was best for all of them. He would disagree with what she considered that to be, but she would never let him or anyone else know what it was. It was something she had thought up several years ago, and even back then she had known that it would take time to put into place. Beacon would give her four years of time all to herself to ensure that it became a reality, and that was too good to pass up.

Again, she swallowed the lump in her throat. If her family could just give her four years to get everything put into place, she would pay them back, even though they would never know that it was her.

If it all went according to plan, they would never be threatened by the White Fang again, and that was too good for her to pass up.

Tentatively, she nodded. "Okay..."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Now, if you're going to make this happen, you're going to need to get to Vale. If you head down to the harbor now, you can ask around until you find someone sailing there – if they're anything like most of the other sailors I've met, they'll be short-staffed, and will let you tag along for free if you're willing to work for them until you get there. Once you've booked passage, get rid of your scroll somewhere – either drop it into the ocean or give it to a beggar, doesn't matter so long as you get rid of it, since Sienna can track it."

She nodded in understanding. So far, it all seemed straightforward.

"Once you're in Vale, head straight to Beacon and ask to see Ozpin. From there, it should be pretty straightforward." He quickly cast a glance over at her. "You might want to find some way to disguise yourself – your hair and eyes are very visible. Drugstores sell colored contact lenses and hair dye; I suggest you get a lot of each."

"I don't have any money," Ruby said softly, before she even knew what she was saying.

"Wait here," he replied, before disappearing into the room again and starting to rummage around. He returned a moment later with a stack full of lien cards, which he passed to her.

Upon seeing how much he was giving her, Ruby's eyes widened in shock.

"T-this is too much!" she protested. "I can't-"

"Stop," he said sternly, cutting her off. "You need it more than I do. Don't even try to give it back; I don't want it." He smiled at her. "Besides, a Huntress needs money for school supplies, right?"

Ruby frowned, but pocketed the money all the same. He had given her enough for a lot more than just school supplies, and he knew it.

"...Why are you helping me so much?" Ruby asked, confused. "You barely know me..."

"Like I said, you're not the first one I've helped out," he replied without missing a beat. "You're just the one who needs it the most. Fifteen-year-old girl shows up in my house, looking like she's seen more death and suffering than a veteran Huntsman, and is clearly in need of help? I'd have to be some kind of bastard not to do everything I can to help her out." His expression softened. "I've already experienced where the path you're on leads. It cost me my son. If I can help even one person avoid that fate, it's worth everything I've got, my life included. Apparently, Sienna agrees, since she sent you to get rid of me."

"...I won't be able to pay you back," she said weakly.

"Again, you're not the first. I don't do this because I expect some kind of reward, or because I expect to be paid back. I do this because it's the right thing to do. Best thing I get out of this is some home repairs from people who need to stay for a few days and want something to do so they don't feel bored, plus some referrals to other people I can help. Far as I'm concerned, I don't need anything else."

He gave her another smile. "Now, I think it's time you left, little lady."

She blinked in surprise, then looked at him sadly. "...Thank you," she said. "Will you be okay? Sienna knows where you are."

He waved her off. "Don't worry about me. I've got a few places I can go, and this is hardly my first time having to pick up shop and move somewhere else." He shrugged. "Don't quite know where I'll end up just yet, but wherever it is, I'll just keep doing this all over again. Not gonna let Sienna stop me from helping people. I will need a new front for this next one, though. Maybe a bookstore this time..."

He turned back to her, a grin on his face. "I'm starting to ramble. Anyway, you should get going. It was nice meeting you, kid."

With that, he turned back to the kitchen table and began to pack everything back up. Ruby watched him for a few seconds before muttering another thank-you and turning towards the front door. Stepping out, she saw that the rain had cleared, and the sun was poking out from between the clouds. With a renewed vigor in her heart and a small spring in her step, Ruby lowered the hood off of her head and began moving towards the harbor in the distance. She had been lucky to receive this chance, and she wasn't about to let anything stop her from chasing after it.

Anything that got her closer to accomplishing what she had been planning for the past two years was worth pursuing, after all.

* * *

Getting to Vale was almost too easy. Upon arriving at the harbor back in Mistral, it was trivial to book passage on a ship in exchange for helping the short-staffed crew, who were all too grateful to have her aboard. It had been several weeks of constant work before they had arrived, but compared to Almost's training, it had been nothing. Plus, they had even given her free food and a room to sleep in. The only downside was that she had left Mistral in a hurry and hadn't brought a spare set of clothes, and the shower could only do so much to clean her off after a day of work when she didn't have anything clean to change into.

Of course, it didn't really bother her as much as it did the other crew members. Compared to being covered in blood and guts, dirt and grime were nothing.

By the time she actually arrived at her destination, it was already dark out. The streets, while still densely populated compared to Menagerie, were nowhere near as busy as they would be during the day. Similarly, the people were also different compared to Menagerie. Back there, humans were almost non-existent; here, there were more humans than Faunus.

And given the aside glances some of them were giving her, she wasn't quite welcome.

As she walked, Ruby left one hand hidden inside her cloak, resting on the grip of her pistol. She doubted anybody would try to make a scene with her, but in her experience, it paid to be prepared.

Suddenly, she was struck by the fact that when Sienna got word out about her defection, she would have to keep an eye on every Faunus that crossed her path as well as every human. If she wasn't careful, any one of them could sneak up and try to stick a knife in her back. It was a sobering thought; she was truly surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Suddenly, Ruby was thankful for having kept her cloak. She had resolved to give it away to somebody else before deciding to head to Beacon, but once it became clear that she would be arriving with very little, it made more sense for her to keep it for herself, unpleasant memories and all.

And as much as she wanted to use the money she had been given to buy something else, she couldn't bring herself to actually do it. Bad memories or not, she had to be careful not to spend it on anything non-essential.

And speaking of spending money…

Finding a drug store had been easy enough – this late, most of the businesses were closed. As soon as she had entered, she had grabbed as many bottles of black hair dye and boxes of green contact lenses as she possibly could, paid for them, and then locked herself in the store's bathroom.

Turning to the mirror, she had to resist the urge to look away in disgust. Staring at herself felt wrong, given how closely she resembled her mother. It felt like she was sullying Summer's legacy by looking so similarly. Given all the good her mother had done, Ruby felt like she didn't deserve to look like her or carry her maiden name.

Changing her appearance couldn't happen fast enough. Luckily, it was a relatively minor change – simply dying the ends of her hair black to match the top of her head and her wolf ears was enough. Even if it wasn't, it would have to do; her wolf ears made getting full coverage impossible, and she wasn't even sure how to go about dying them anyway. At least with this method, she couldn't mess it up.

Once that was done, Ruby moved on to her eyes. As she unboxed a pair of green contacts, she glimpsed over at the mirror once more, and to her surprise, felt more at ease with herself. It was remarkable how different she felt with just a change in hair color.

It honestly made her a bit excited to put in her contacts. If covering up her natural hair color made her feel like this, then concealing her silver eyes would be even better.

Just a few minutes later, Ruby unlocked the bathroom door and strode out, her bag of spare dye and contacts in one hand and her head held a bit higher than before. As she left, she cast a glimpse over at the nearby digital clock, and frowned. It was almost ten at night; somehow, she doubted she would be able to get an audience with Headmaster Ozpin this late. No matter; she would just run some other errands instead, then find a place that would rent her a room for the night.

With that in mind, she set off towards her next destination. As much as she wanted it to be a clothing store, there was something else that took precedence instead. If she was going to be a Huntress, not to mention possibly having to contend with the White Fang, she was going to have to bolster her arsenal a bit. Her last mission was supposed to be a simple assassination mission, and she had traveled light in order to make getting in and getting out easier.

Normally, Ruby would have gone clad head-to-toe in her combat outfit, which consisted of a set of long pants and a long shirt, both put together with a combination of Dust-reinforced fabric and aramid, with spots for steel trauma plates to be inserted over vulnerable areas such as her thighs and shoulders. She would have also thrown on a chest rig laden with spare magazines for her guns, plus a carrier equipped with trauma plates to cover her sides, chest, and back. Combined with her aura, it made her practically bulletproof.

It was also bulky, heavy, cumbersome, and didn't breathe at all, which was why she hadn't brought it with her. Instead, she had gone in street clothes – a set of dark blue cargo pants and a black long-sleeved shirt with 'Achieve Men' written across it, whatever that meant. The most recognizable things about her current outfit were the black cloak she was wearing, plus the weapons that occasionally peeked out from beneath it whenever she took a step and it billowed out behind her.

For starters, there was the knife mounted in a sheath on her shoulder. It wasn't exactly fancy – a double-sided, eleven-and-a-half inch dagger with a ring grip and a razor-sharp cutting edge to it, made out of Dust-reinforced steel for extra durability. It was more of a stiletto than a standard combat knife, being specifically designed to be capable of easily being thrust between the ribs, though it was also perfectly serviceable as a cutting implement as well. Appearance-wise, it was as nondescript and utilitarian as weapons got, boasting a dull gray-and-black color scheme and no mecha-shift feature.

On her hip, her pistol rested comfortably in its holster. Originally intended to be a replacement for her old .45 that had been destroyed, Ruby had decided to go for something with a bit more punch to it instead, and had opted for a .44 magnum. This gun was bigger and heavier than her old one, but also hit much harder, helped along by the fact that she exclusively used explosive Fire Dust rounds with it. Unlike her knife, this weapon was a lot more eye-catching; visually, it was unique, being made out of chrome-moly steel with a stainless finish, complete with ebony wood grips. A ribbed barrel and adjustable target sights gave the impression that it was more of a collector's piece than anything, but as far as Ruby could tell, hers was just a slightly nicer version of a standard sidearm offered for sale all across Remnant.

Which made sense, given that she took it from a Specialist she had ambushed and killed.

Functionally, the gun offered a considerable amount of firepower, while also being lightweight and easy to handle. It fed from seven-round box magazines, plus an extra round in the chamber if she reloaded early; coupled with the 240-grain explosive .44 magnum rounds she loaded it with, and most basic Grimm tended not to last through all seven shots.

Of course, those were just her sidearms. Neither of them held a candle to the one resting on her lower back.

It had gone through a litany of changes over the years, but at its core it was still the same sniper rifle she had been given seven years ago – .50 caliber, bolt-action, feeding from ten-round magazines, and accurate enough to put a round through a Beowolf's eye at over a mile on a bad day. A few years after getting it, Ruby had taken it completely apart and then used it as the base to build her own mecha-shift weapon. Now, while it retained the accuracy and firepower she had come to expect from it, it also incorporated a scythe as its alternate form. Equipped with a stainless steel, Dust-forged blade, it was capable of cutting through flesh like a knife through butter.

Once, she had been so proud of this weapon that she had christened it Black Rose. Now, it was nameless, and only out of necessity – it was the weapon she was most experienced with, and as much as she wanted to build a new one with less of a checkered past, it wouldn't change the fact that eventually, that weapon would come to be just as blood-soaked as this one was.

At least, that was her line of thinking before making her escape. Maybe one day, she could replace it with something else. For now, it would have to do.

Unfortunately, as laden down with weapons as she was, Ruby had neglected to bring much in the way of ammo with her, since she hadn't been expecting much of a fight on her last mission. Currently, she had a single magazine loaded in her pistol, one in her rifle, and two spare rifle mags in a container on her belt. It would be enough to get her through a small firefight, but if she was going to be a Huntress, she would need more than that.

A new chest rig wouldn't hurt either, nor would a satchel or backpack to carry even more.

Luckily, she had passed a few Dust shops during her search for a drug store. They would be closing soon, but it would be a good idea for her to at least see what they were selling. If nothing else, she could come back in the morning and make her purchases then – it would certainly be better than trying to hunt around for a place that sold everything she needed.

Besides, if it was anything like the other times she had been forced to go shopping by herself, it would be quick and easy.

* * *

"I don't understand."

The man at the register glared at her from behind the counter. "I said I'm not selling to you."

Ruby frowned. "Why?"

"Because I'm not an idiot, that's why. Faunus girl comes into my store late at night, carrying all sorts of weapons on her? I don't know about anyone else in this store, but that seems suspicious to me."

Casting a glance at the other patrons occupying the store, Ruby could see that they were all eyeing her with suspicion. One of them, a Huntress by the looks of things, had even pulled back her jacket to reveal a holstered gun. Ruby's gaze hardened before she turned back to the cashier.

"I just wanted to look around."

The man laughed. "Yeah, I can tell. Probably scouting around to let the rest of your buddies in the White Fang know what to expect."

Scowling, Ruby quickly replied, "I'm not in the White Fang."

To her dismay, he waved her off. "At this point, I don't really care. You're still in my store even though I've told you to leave. That means you're trespassing." He leaned closer, leering at her, a smug look on his face. "Now, are you going to leave, or do I have to get my friend Indigo over there to make you leave?"

The wolf Faunus looked back over to the Huntress, who had moved her hand to rest on her gun, and who was now staring at her with contempt. She was young, likely a fresh graduate from whatever Academy she had come out of. In any case, it was clear that she was still as green as they got – her stance was far too relaxed, she was too overconfident, and she hadn't done anything to move the nearby civilians out of the way. If Ruby so desired it, she could easily rush in and stab her in the jugular before the Huntress had even had time to draw her weapon. A few years ago, and maybe she would have, possibly justifying it by saying that Indigo was clearly brandishing a weapon towards her and intended to use it.

But that wasn't who she was anymore.

Tearing her gaze away from the woman, Ruby turned back to the man, her expression one of loathing. "I was just leaving," she said, before turning and moving towards the door.

The cashier laughed. "That's right, get out of here. And tell the rest of the filthy animals in the White Fang that if they try to rob me like they did the other stores, they're getting a face full of ten-gauge shot."

Ruby ignored him as best as she could, instead choosing to simply continue out onto the street. If it had just been this store, maybe she would have been able to block it out, but he hadn't been the first. Before this store, she had visited two others, and the responses she had received had been roughly the same – motions towards a gun stashed under the counter, angry glares and hateful words, threats to call the cops, demands that she leave before things got ugly… Thinking back on it, she sighed heavily, her ears drooping.

Vale might not have been as bad as Mistral or Atlas, but it was a far cry from how she would have been treated in Menagerie, or even Vacuo. Even now, as she walked through the darkened city streets, the other pedestrians often treated her like a rabid animal just waiting to bite them. Many of them, upon seeing her, eyed her with wariness or contempt, some of them moved farther away from her or crossed the street altogether to avoid directly passing her, and a few even whispered racial slurs or threats that she was sure they didn't intend for her to hear, but that she couldn't avoid picking up with her enhanced hearing.

Ruby grit her teeth, her gaze falling onto the sidewalk in front of her so she didn't have to see the hate-filled expressions of those who passed her by. Part of the treatment she was receiving might have been due to the White Fang's recent actions in Vale – things such as committing robberies, assaulting outspoken anti-Faunus speakers, and holding rallies that quickly turned violent – but she knew the truth.

The truth was, she was responsible for much of the abuse headed her way.

While the White Fang had always been careful to deny the assassinations had been their doing, it didn't take much to connect the dots – avowed racists, military officials, SDC executives, and White Fang defectors turning up butchered didn't leave much room for doubt, even through the thin veneer of plausible deniability that Sienna maintained. As much as others in the White Fang liked to decry humanity as being filled with hateful idiots, most humans were smart enough to see the writing on the wall. They didn't know Ruby was responsible – and if she had her way, they never would – but they knew enough to attribute it to the White Fang, and by extension, all Faunus.

That made her culpable for all of the hatred heading not only towards her, but towards the rest of her race as well. Sure, the White Fang was far from innocent, but the damage they caused was nothing like what Ruby had done. If she hadn't been running around killing people, it was likely that people might view them a bit more sympathetically. It wouldn't be much, but Ruby doubted that the people hurling abuse towards her now would be as open about it if not for her.

Another sigh escaped her. It truly had been for nothing, then. All the people she had buried, and the only thing she had accomplished was making every Faunus into even more of a pariah.

One more sin for her to atone for, then.

After a few more minutes of wandering, she was about ready to call it quits for the night; she wasn't tired, but being exposed to the consequences of her actions was starting to take its toll. She was moments away from turning back and going to look for a hotel when a brightly-lit building caught her attention. Pausing, she turned towards it and read off the name printed above the entrance.

_From Dust 'Til Dawn?_

She was just about to write it off as being the same as the others when her gaze drifted to a small sign hanging in the window.

_We proudly serve people of all races._

Her heart soared, less so because of the fact that she had found a Dust shop and more because it was a reminder that she hadn't completely turned humanity against her race. Tentatively approaching the store, Ruby slowly opened the front door and peered inside. An old man was sitting behind the register, and he gave her a small smile when he saw her.

"Hello, there," he said cheerfully. "What can I help you with?"

"J-just browsing," Ruby said after a moment's pause, taken off-guard by his upbeat nature.

The man nodded in understanding. "Feel free to take your time. I'll be behind the counter if you need anything."

Stepping inside the store, Ruby glanced around. It looked the same as just about every other Dust shop she had visited so far, but something about it felt more inviting, and as much as she was willing to attribute it to the sign in the window, something told her that wasn't entirely the case. Scanning the room, Ruby located the shelf filled with ammo cans and approached it, looking for rounds compatible with her weapons.

"So, what brings you here so late?" the shopkeeper asked her.

"Just got to Vale," she replied, not taking her gaze off the shelf.

"Ah, I see." A pause. "The other stores wouldn't let you in, would they?"

She shook her head.

"Fools, the lot of 'em," the shopkeeper spat. "World's miserable enough with the Grimm walking around, yet we've got idiots like them out there making things worse with their hate. I've tried talking to 'em about it, but they won't hear it. Even pointed out that they're just making things worse, but they still think keeping a Huntsman around and a gun under the counter is a solution." He frowned. "Missed the point entirely, they did."

Ruby didn't respond. The man leaned forwards, focusing on her hip, before letting out a low whistle.

"That one of those new Atlesian magnums?"

Ruby blinked, surprised, then turned to face him. "Yes, sir."

"Mind if I take a look? I've had a few in the shop before, but none as nice as that one."

Weighing her options, Ruby finally decided that there wouldn't be much harm in indulging him. Pulling the weapon from its holster, she ejected the magazine and the chambered round before approaching the counter and handing him the gun grip-first. He accepted the weapon, turning it over in his hands before aiming it at nothing in particular and pulling the trigger. The gun clicked empty, and he hummed in approval.

"That's just about the nicest trigger I've ever felt in a handgun," he said. "Where'd you get this? No offense, but something like this must have cost a fortune, and last I checked, most teenagers don't have that kind of money."

"...I didn't buy it," Ruby carefully said. "I got it from my mentor."

It was a lie, but now that she was in Vale, she was going to have to get used to lying. Most of her free time on the boat ride over was spent trying to formulate an appropriate cover story, since she knew Headmaster Ozpin would almost certainly interrogate her about who she was. She had eventually settled on one that felt suitable… that is, difficult to disprove and verify, but believable on its own. It would need some refinement, but for now, it would do.

The shopkeeper nodded in understanding, then turned back towards the gun. "This is in .44 magnum, right?"

"Yes."

"Hold on, I'll be right back."

With that, he returned the gun to her and moved out from behind the counter before disappearing into the back room, leaving Ruby standing there confused. She loaded her weapon again, then holstered it, just in time for him to return, carrying a cardboard box in his hands.

"I haven't had one in .44 come in for a long time," he began. "Most of the ones I've gotten have been in .357 – .44's generally too much gun for most people to handle. I've still got a bunch of spare parts for 'em, but at this point they're just taking up space, since nobody is interested in 'em. Figured you could use 'em more than I could."

He offered the box to her, and Ruby looked at him in surprise before hesitantly accepting it. Opening it slightly, she was stunned to see several spare magazines and a small box of spare parts inside. Seeing her face, the man grinned.

"That's on the house. Since you're new in Vale, I figured that you deserved a welcoming present, especially after how those idiots treated you."

To say she was suspicious would be an understatement. She had barely known this man for a few minutes, yet here he was, offering her a box full of free stuff. If she hadn't just been on the receiving end of similar generosity a few days go, Ruby would have thought it impossible. But after everything she had been through recently, she was willing to accept it for what it was.

That being a good reminder that, as bad as she may have made things between her race and humanity, she hadn't completely poisoned the well.

Perhaps there was some hope for her, after all.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Ruby shut the lid. "T-thank you..."

He waved her off. "Don't mention it. Now, is there anything you were looking for? I saw you looking through the ammo cans."

"T-twelve-point-seven caliber rounds," Ruby stammered out, still stunned by his generosity.

"Anti-materiel? Lotta gun for someone your size – I've seen guys with a foot and a half of height and a hundred pounds of weight over you try to use one of those things and get knocked to the floor. You must be looking to become a Huntress if you're using something like that at your age."  
Ruby nodded slightly, earning a small laugh from him. "That's good – world needs more people like you, 'specially if they know their way around a gun like you seem to. Anyway, I keep the bigger stuff on the shelf in the back, behind the magazine rack – the kind you read, not the kind that you load guns with. Feel free to take a look."

With that, he gave her another small grin before moving back behind the counter. Ruby watched him go, then moved towards the back of the building and began looking for the ammo she needed. She had intended to wait until morning to buy anything, but now she felt compelled to buy something, if only to show how much she appreciated his kindness. Seeing a box of Fire Dust ammo, she reached out to grab it.

Just as she grabbed the handle on top of the can, the door opened with a small chime, followed by the sound of several people moving into the room and approaching the counter.

"Do you know how hard it is to find a Dust shop that's open this late?"

The words would have been innocuous if they weren't punctuated by a sound Ruby had become all too familiar with over the last ten years. As soon as she heard the sound of a pistol's slide being racked back, she tensed and turned her attention to the front of the store, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the robbers through the spaces between shelved items.

There were five of them – four men in black suits, and one man in a white suit wearing a bowler hat and smoking a cigar. The four in black were all armed with guns, two pistols and two submachine guns between them. The man in the hat seemed to only be carrying a cane, but Ruby knew better than to assume he was unarmed.

"Please, take my lien and leave!" the shopkeeper said, his arms raised in surrender.

The man in the hat shushed him, a smirk on his face. "Calm down; we're not here for your money." Turning to his men, he added, "Grab the Dust."

Three of them set about gathering Dust from around the store, leaving just Bowler Hat and the man holding the shopkeeper at gunpoint. At that moment, Ruby decided that she'd seen enough – none of the robbers were wearing masks, meaning they didn't care if anybody saw their faces. Either they were confident that nobody was going to speak out, or they didn't intend to leave anyone left behind who could identify them. If she didn't do something, they were going to kill the old man, and she'd be damned if she was going to sit there and let someone who had shown her so much kindness be victimized.

One of the men began walking towards her hiding spot, and she tensed, one hand curling around the hilt of her knife. He rounded the corner, eyes widening when he saw her. He began to raise his gun towards her, and she sprang into action, darting forward and delivering several strikes to his chest. He grunted in shock, and Ruby took the opportunity to dart behind him, grabbing his arm and sweeping his legs out from beneath him. He fell to the ground, and in the same motion, she tore his gun from his grasp and tossed it away. A few more strikes and she felt his aura break, though he continued to struggle. She cocked her fist back, intending to knock him out with a punch to the face.

And then, everything went wrong.

Suddenly, the man's hand fell to his waist, and he pulled a knife of his own. Ruby's eyes widened, and before she knew what she was doing, her own blade intercepted and parried it, then in the blink of an eye it darted forwards and bit into the side of his neck before being wrenched free. Immediately, he went slack in her hold, the knife falling from his grasp as he clutched at his wound, trying in vain to stop the spray of blood from his severed carotid artery. Ruby stared at him, numb, as he struggled on the ground, his movements growing weaker by the second as the pool of blood around him grew before they finally stopped, his eyes glossing over and leaving him staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

In an instant, the image shifted. The robber's body was replaced by that of an Atlesian soldier, lying in the snow in the middle of a military base after she had cut his throat. Through his visor, Ruby could see the same vacant, dead expression on his face. In a trance, she looked around, finding three other soldiers and one Specialist staring at her in shock.

And then the Specialist was shouting, and all of the soldiers began to open fire. Gunshots filled the air, though they were quickly drowned out by the rush of blood in her ears. Her breath began to come out in short, ragged gasps, and her pounding heart quickly joined the cacophony of sound all around her. Bullets were bouncing off of her aura, each one leaving a dull pain in its wake, though it was nothing compared to the splitting headache she had suddenly developed. It was all too much – the sights, the sound, the scents, the sensations… All of it left her frozen, incapable of doing anything. Vaguely, she was aware that her aura was starting to get dangerously low. If she didn't do something, then she was going to die.

_Fight._

The words that echoed in her mind weren't her own voice. They were a command, given by a familiar voice that she had once considered a friend.

_Either fight or die, Rose. There is no other option._

She shouldn't have been listening to them. That wasn't who she was anymore, and she knew it.

But try as she might, the fear in her mind refused to give way to rational thought. Stuck in a barrage of gunfire, death looming over her and her own mind stuck in the past, Ruby did the only thing she could do to ensure her own safety.

She let her instincts and training take over.

Swallowing her fear, the little wolf Faunus stared down the soldiers and Specialists, her gaze narrowing. She blinked, and the world was replaced with red.

A few seconds later and she blinked again, and suddenly she was back in the Dust shop. There was no more shouting, no more gunfire. Everything was quiet. A moment later, and the scent hit her – the familiar, coppery tang of blood. Looking back over her shoulder, Ruby found three men lying in pools of crimson, the viscous red liquid leaking from a multitude of stab and slash wounds all across their bodies. They looked nothing like the men she thought she had been fighting, black suits and red ties replacing Atlesian combat gear and ballistic plating. Tentatively, she looked down at herself and found that she was clutching a bloodstained knife, and that the entire front of her body was stained to match.

Even now, in all the confusion, she knew that none of it had come from her.

A draft blew through the now-broken window, catching her attention. Focusing on it, she could see a figure clad in white running away as fast as they possibly could. She frowned – who was-?

And then she remembered. Before she knew what she was doing, Ruby was speeding after him, uncaring of the mess she had left behind her. All that mattered was catching her target. He had tried to have her killed, and she wasn't going to risk him coming back one day to finish the job.

She caught up to him in record time, easily reaching him when he tried to reach for a ladder in a nearby alleyway and charging into him, sending him sprawling and breaking what was left of his aura. Before he could recover, she leaped on top of him, intending to drive her knife down into his chest. He caught her arms, and the two of them were suddenly in a test of strength, struggling over the blade's destination – her doing her best to pierce his heart with it, and him trying his hardest to direct it into the ground instead.

Despite his best efforts, the knife slowly started to inch its way downwards.

"Neo!" he suddenly called. "Neo, a little help!"

His panicked shout was unimportant to her, but the sound of feet hitting pavement a few meters behind her was. Immediately, Ruby relinquished her grip on her knife, instead whirling around and ripping her magnum from its holster. Eight shots echoed through the night, seven of them hitting nothing but broken glass before the last struck a decidedly human-shaped target, stunning her and knocking her off-balance.

Ruby tossed her empty handgun to the side and rushed the diminutive woman with a fist cocked back, but despite her speed, her hand again met only shattered glass. Frantically looking around, she finally saw the girl helping the man up, the two of them eyeing her with different expressions – shock and fear on his part, and seething hatred on hers.

"Get me out of here," the man said to his partner, desperation creeping into his voice.

Ruby reached behind her, pulling out her final weapon and unfolding it into its rifle form to take a shot. Before she could fire one, the pair of criminals split off into five other pairs, each one running for a different escape point. Frantically, Ruby pulled the trigger and worked the bolt on her weapon as fast as she could, but in the end she only managed to get off two shots before the others were gone. The two she had hit shattered, and the rest escaped into the night.

The wolf Faunus stayed there for a moment, weapon pressed into her shoulder, but once it was clear that the fight was over, she folded her weapon back up and stowed it, then retrieved the two she had lost during the fight and returned them to their rightful positions. In the distance, she could hear sirens approaching. Briefly, she considered running away, her past experiences with the police having taught her that they were nothing but trouble.

But then she remembered the shopkeeper.

He had disappeared when the shooting had started. Was he okay? Had he been hit? She didn't know. And as much as she wanted to run away and avoid dealing with law enforcement, she would never forgive herself if he was lying there in need of medical attention with nobody around to give it. With a heavy sigh, she turned back towards where the Dust shop was and began to run.

She made it about four steps before a purple aura surrounded her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"I don't think so."

Tensing, Ruby turned her head towards the new voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she could make out green eyes, glasses, and blonde hair, as well as an official-looking outfit. Whoever this newcomer was, they weren't about to let her leave.

"I am not your enemy," Ruby said, her voice dripping with desperation.

The woman's eyes narrowed. "The blood all across your front says otherwise. Mind explaining before I hand you over to the police?"

"Robbery – Dust shop," she hurriedly said. "Stopped robbers; owner in trouble. Need to check on him."

The blonde blinked, but maintained her composure. "If you're talking about the old man behind the counter, he was fine when I poked my head in. The men on the ground, however..." She trailed off before focusing on Ruby, her gaze narrowed into a glare. "You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady."

Whatever she meant by that statement, Ruby knew it didn't bode well for her. Tensing her limbs, she did her best to try and break free, but to no avail – whatever was keeping her levitating in place, it was strong. She wasn't going to be escaping it any time soon.

Sighing, the wolf lowered her head and resigned herself to whatever fate the woman had in store for her.

* * *

The interrogation room was as cramped as it was dark, though Ruby suspected that this was by design – make the suspect as uncomfortable as possible, and maybe they'd be more likely to break. She was currently seated on the opposite end of a table, facing towards the door. Her right wrist was connected to it by a pair of handcuffs, which seemed to have something in them that interfered with her aura, since it refused to do anything other than flicker and fade no matter how hard she tried to flare it. A single dim light sat above her head, barely managing to illuminate the whole room, small as it was. Besides the light and the table, the only other fixture of note was a large mirror on one of the walls, which was tinted so that Ruby couldn't see out of it.

Across from her, the woman who had delivered her to the police stared her down, a scroll in her hands.

"You have a lot to answer for," she finally said. "Four men are dead because of you. Now, care to start talking?"

Ruby said nothing. It was all she could do, really – her weapons had been stripped from her the instant she was in police custody, and now that she was chained to the table, there was no way she would be able to get out, even if there wasn't a fully-trained Huntress standing in her way. The woman had been trying for the past thirty minutes to get Ruby to talk, but the wolf was reluctant to tell her much of anything.

Seeing she was getting nowhere, the woman sighed irritably. "Look, you need to start talking. I get that you don't trust me, or any of the officers in this building, but staying silent isn't going to help you. In fact, it's only making things worse – if you're silent, we can't get your side of the story. This is your chance to clear things up. I want to help you, but you're not making things easy."

The wolf considered the Huntress' words. If what she was saying was true, then she didn't exactly have anything to lose. Even if it was a trick, it wasn't like she could make things worse for herself than they already were, especially if she limited what she was saying. Reluctantly, she began to speak.

"...They were trying to rob the store," she said carefully. "Pointed guns at the old man's face."

"I'm aware," the Huntress said. "We got that part of the story from him directly, and corroborated it using the footage from his security cameras. That's not what I'm asking about."

Her gaze hardened. "I want to know why you killed those men even though they were no longer threats to you."

"...They were armed," Ruby said softly.

"Aside from the first one, they were out of aura and unconscious when you started killing them. There was no way any of them would have been able to raise a weapon against you." Once again, the woman leaned forward. "Now, what aren't you telling me?"

Ruby wouldn't have answered that question even if she knew how to answer it. As it was, she had no idea how to respond. What was she supposed to say, that she was seeing things that weren't real? That she was caught in a memory from several years ago, when she used to slaughter innocent men because she had been told to? Guilty as she felt over that, it wasn't something she was about to confess to, given how doing so would interfere with her plans for the future.

The wolf stared at the woman, silent. Once again, they were at the same impasse as when they had started. In a repeat of what had happened just a few moments ago, the woman sighed irritably and opened her mouth to speak.

Only this time, she was interrupted by the door to the interrogation room swinging open.

Looking past the Huntress, Ruby was met by the sight of a newcomer stepping into the room – a man she had never seen before. Just looking at him, she wasn't sure what to think; on the surface he seemed unassuming enough, given his manner of dress – an opened black suit over top of a green vest and green button-up shirt. His hair was gray and he carried a cane in one hand, yet he seemed to be merely older rather than elderly, and he didn't seem to be favoring one leg over the other. Despite his unremarkable appearance, one look at him was all it took for Ruby to realize he was a dangerous man. Between the way he carried himself – tense, like a coiled spring, always ready to react at the slightest threat – to the fact that his expression boasted of someone who had seen a lifetime of battle, it was clear that he was not to be trifled with.

To her confusion, he shut the door behind him and then stepped over to the table, pulling up a chair and taking a seat next to the woman. He turned to Ruby, eyeing her with an even expression, which she found odd; everyone, even the woman, had looked at her with nothing less than strong wariness ever since she had been taken into custody.

He turned to the woman. "I will take it from here, Glynda."

The Huntress nodded in acknowledgment. At her confirmation, he brought his hands up to rest on the table and then turned to Ruby.

And then, to her astonishment, he gave her a small smile.

"If you are worried about being imprisoned, please allow me to put those fears to rest," he told her. "At the police chief's request, I have reviewed the footage with him, and together we have determined that it would be better to turn you over to me rather than force you to go through the court system."

The woman – Glynda – looked surprised. "Ozpin, are you saying what I think you are?"

Ruby's heart skipped a beat at that. _This _was Ozpin? As in, the headmaster of Beacon Academy? The man she was supposed to approach and ask for admission? _That _Ozpin?

How in the world was she supposed to do that now? She had shown her true colors by killing four people earlier, and now she was sitting in front of him handcuffed to a table and covered in blood. Even worse, according to him, she was now in his custody. Clearly, he was supposed to punish her in some way; why else would she have been turned over to him?

The revelation made her slump down in her seat, her ears pressed flat against her head and her expression downtrodden. For some reason, the two adults looked at her in surprise.

"Miss?" Ozpin asked.

"...Just get it over with," Ruby muttered. "Whatever you're planning to do to me, just do it. Don't make me wait."

Ozpin and Glynda exchanged a glance. After a second, the headmaster turned back to her. "Whatever do you mean?"

"The police turned me over to you," Ruby answered, her gaze fixed on the table to avoid making eye contact. "That means you're here to punish me, doesn't it?"

Ozpin blinked. "Clearly, there is some misunderstanding as to what's going on," he said carefully. "You aren't being punished. You were turned over to me because the police chief didn't think there was good cause to imprison you over the dead men."

At her stunned glance, he added, "Miss, you are clearly underage, those four men all had extensive criminal records and were led by the most infamous criminal in Vale, all of them were armed and in the process of committing a robbery, none of them had their faces concealed meaning there was a strong chance that they intended to leave nobody there to identify them, and all this comes off the heels of several other Dust shop robberies, a few of which did indeed result in fatalities. Your methods, while heavy-handed, ultimately don't take away from the fact that your case is about as close to a prosecutor's worst nightmare as it gets."

"Don't forget that race plays a part in it, too," Glynda reluctantly added. "A young Faunus girl defends one of the only Faunus-friendly Dust shops in Vale from robbers – _human _robbers, at that – and ends up being sent to prison for it? The Faunus community would be in an uproar, bodies or not. The fallout from that mess would make the Dust shop robberies look positively benign by comparison."

Ozpin nodded in agreement. "Essentially, the police decided that pursuing your case wasn't worth upsetting the already emotionally-charged Faunus community even more than they already are, especially given that the four dead men were all criminals in the act of victimizing someone else. Even if it had been decided that you needed to go to trial for it, this case screams of a deadlocked jury and a mistrial, and ultimately, the Vale government has better things to focus on."

Again, Ruby's heart skipped a beat, though this time it brought with it a sense of relief rather than apprehension. Carefully, she examined both of their faces to try and determine if they were lying, if there was some tell she could use to see if they were being anything less than completely genuine in their statements, but she found none. If nothing else, their story somewhat explained why the police weren't here – why would they bother to get involved with her if they never planned on taking her into custody?  
Of course, that still left one very important question unanswered.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"I imagine that trying to come up with a suitable answer for that question has been bothering you," Ozpin replied. He smirked. "However, before I answer it, I would very much like for you to answer a few questions of mine – nothing about this case, I assure you," he quickly added. "If you can do this for me, I would gladly answer any questions you may have, that one included. Is that acceptable?"

It wasn't what she'd had in mind, but given that she was seemingly no longer in danger of being imprisoned, it was acceptable enough. At the very least, she could always indulge him up to the point where his questions became too close for comfort. Hesitantly, Ruby nodded.

"Excellent," Ozpin said, relaxing. "Now, to begin with… What is your name?"

Ruby blinked in surprise. Whatever question she had expected him to ask, that hadn't been it. Still, it was simple enough that she could answer it with no problem. She opened her mouth to speak, and just barely caught herself from blurting out the wrong thing, instead quickly breaking off into a cough in order to cover it up and give herself time to think of a response.

In all the excitement, she had almost forgotten how much things had changed in the past few days. Leaving the White Fang necessitated a complete identity change, one that would go along with her new hair and eyes. She had prepared a name and cover story, but now it was clear that coming up with them had been the easy part. The hard part was going to be committing to them and avoiding saying the wrong thing.

Still, she didn't exactly have a choice in the matter – it was either conceal her identity completely or risk having the White Fang, Almost, and Sienna locate her almost instantly wherever she went. That meant that everything about the life she had lived for fifteen years was going to have to be dead and buried. It meant that she was going to have to be careful to never let anybody see her without her hair dye or contacts. Most importantly, it meant that she could no longer be Ruby Rose. From now on, she was…

"Red Canis," she answered, her faux-coughing fit having ended.

The name felt strange on her tongue, almost alien. At the same time, it felt right. For the past two years, her old name had felt incorrect; it was one of the last vestiges of an innocent life and a simple, honest soul that she felt no longer applied to her, especially her mother's maiden name. Being connected to the late, great Summer Rose in any way was a privilege that the wolf Faunus felt she didn't deserve anymore, weighted down by sin as she was.

Ozpin nodded in understanding. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Canis," he said earnestly. "I am Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy. Sitting next to me is Glynda Goodwitch, deputy headmistress of Beacon Academy." He turned back to her. "Now then, if it's okay with you, I would like to learn a bit more about you as a person. Nothing too major – this is meant to be a brief question-and-answer session, after all. For one, I would like to know your age, as well as where you are from. Most importantly, I want to know about your fighting style."

General questions, then… well, as close to general questions as Red could tell, having never been subject to an interrogation such as this before.

"I am fifteen," she replied, earning a look of shock from both of the adults that caused her to tilt her head in confusion.

"I apologize," Ozpin said, his stunned expression giving way to stoicism. "I knew you were young, but I was thinking that you were closer in age to my first-year students."

"Is my age a problem in some way?" Red asked carefully.

"Normally, yes. But I do not think it will be a concern, given your immense skill."

His response confused her, as did Glynda's irritated expression. Red ultimately chose to ignore it rather than question it, finding it irrelevant.

"I grew up in the slums of Mistral," she continued. "I don't remember my family – for as long as I can remember, I was on my own. Had to fight every day just to survive. Anything less meant death. When I was ten, I tried to pickpocket a man who caught me. He turned out to be a capable fighter, and rather than punish me, decided to take me under his wing and train me."

"Who was this man?" Ozpin asked.

"Alex Azul," Red replied. "Human, in his mid-thirties when I first met him. Blue eyes and black hair. He wasn't a Huntsman, at least not professionally, but he was good enough that he could take Huntsman-level missions on his own."

"He was a Freelancer?" Glynda asked, surprised. "And you said he was in his mid-thirties? Impressive; usually, most Freelancers end up biting off more than they can chew and either die or are crippled by their mid-twenties. He must have been good to last that long."

"Not good enough," the wolf said. "He left on what was supposed to be a two-week mission. That was three months ago. Finally, I decided to stop trying to deny what happened and instead did what he told me to do if he never came back, which was to take what I wanted from his armory as well as whatever money I could carry and head off on my own."

"And what were you planning to do?" Ozpin asked.

At that, Red shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't want to stay in Mistral any longer – too many bad memories, and the discrimination there runs deep. There wasn't much of a future there for me. Hitched a ride on the first boat out that I could find, and ended up here. Was looking around for a place to stay and some work to do when I stopped by the Dust shop for a break. From there, you know the rest."

Left unsaid was the bit about how she was wanted to get into Beacon. For now, she wanted to keep that close to her chest until she was sure Ozpin would react favorably to it.

"Indeed," came the response. "And I assume that your mentor was the one who trained you?"

"He was," Red confirmed.

"What are your areas of emphasis?"

"Unarmed combat, knives, pistols, and sniper rifles."

Again, the two adults exchanged a glance. "That is an extensive lineup for one so young," Ozpin said. "Still, given that it seems to be consistent with the footage and the weapons we recovered from you, I see no reason to doubt you."

At the last part, Red felt her stomach tighten. "...My weapons are fine, aren't they?"

A nod. "Yes. Beyond a cursory glance, I instructed the police to leave them alone. As a Huntsman myself, I understand that some people get very attached to their weapons and dislike it when others try to examine them." He motioned to his cane for emphasis. "In addition, while what I assume was your sniper rifle seemed to be very robust and durable, I did not want anyone to mess with it and accidentally force you to have to re-accurize it."

Red relaxed in her seat. "Thank you."

He waved her off. "Nothing more than courtesy, I assure you. Plus, since we had already decided not to charge you with a crime, I saw no reason for anyone to go poking around in your personal belongings."

That answer put her at ease, at least. The last thing Red wanted was for anyone to examine her rifle a bit too closely and learn that it was also a scythe – it would make it far too easy for them to connect her to the person who had been running around with such a weapon for the past few years.

Ozpin suddenly cleared his throat, getting her attention. "Now then, I suppose I owe you an answer to your question at last."

To her surprise, he pulled a handcuff key from his pocket, using it to free her hand. Immediately, Red felt her aura come flooding back. Flexing her hand in order to stop it from feeling so numb, she turned to him with a tilt of her head, and he simply grinned at her in response.

"I told you earlier that it was determined that you would be better off in my custody, but I do not think you quite understood what I meant when I said that." He leaned back in his chair. "In light of what happened, as well as your immense skill, I am going to extend an offer to you, Miss Canis. You are under no obligation to accept it, but know that it would likely be in your best interests to do so."

"Oz!" Glynda protested. Ozpin merely shot her a sideways glance in response before turning back to Red.

"Miss Canis, how would you like to attend Beacon Academy, starting next week?"

It took a moment for Red to fully grasp what he was saying to her. When the words finally sank in, she couldn't stop her eyes from widening. Was this truly happening? Even after all she did, he was going to just ask her to start going to Beacon? She hadn't even been the one to bring it up!

Hurriedly, Red nodded in response, causing him to chuckle.

"Okay, then. Next Monday, show up at Beacon's front gate at ten in the morning. Glynda will be there waiting for you, and will tell you what to do next. Congratulations, Miss Canis."

He motioned for her to stand up, and she obliged, casting one more look over at the two of them. Ozpin was giving her a small smirk, while Glynda looked very unhappy, though Red paid no attention to that – she was too busy being over the moon to care.

"You are free to go, Miss Canis," Ozpin said. "You may pick up your belongings from the lockup down the hallway."

She didn't need to be told twice. Hurriedly, yet with no small amount of spring in her step, Red exited the room and took off towards the police lockup.

Suddenly, things were looking up.

* * *

"You'd better have a good idea about what you're doing."

Ozpin turned towards his second-in-command, who was glaring at him warily. He sighed. "I am making what I believe is the best decision that could be made in this situation, Glynda."

"She's unhinged and you know it."

"She is a lost child in need of guidance."

"That girl killed four men in a matter of seconds, got absolutely drenched in their blood, and showed zero concern or remorse over any of it. She was more worried over whether or not anyone touched her weapons. And your solution is to put her in with the general student body."

"What would you have me do, then?" Ozpin asked. "Should I have let her just wander around without supervision, like she intended? She is emotionally disturbed, that much is clear, but I would rather have her under my wing and within my sights than let her go wherever she wants."

"Think about this for a second, Oz," Glynda implored. "You're putting a murderer in with a bunch of teenagers who don't know any better and won't understand her. She's a Faunus, too – do you really think she's going to fly under-the-radar at all, no matter how hard we try to crack down on racism in our school? That's to say nothing of the fact that she's clearly got a whole host of personal issues lurking beneath the surface, as well."

"Which is why I will be meeting with her one-on-one every Friday after classes," Ozpin retorted. "I did get my doctorate for a reason, you know. I am not about to let her problems go untreated."

"Forgive me if I still don't think it's enough," the Huntress replied harshly. "Even discounting the fact that she's a ticking time bomb, there's still too much about her that doesn't add up for me to ever be comfortable with this idea no matter how much you try to convince me – that bag of hair dye and contacts we found, for one… which, I must point out, you never bothered to question her over."

"Because I already have an idea as to why she may have been carrying it around with her. I cannot know for sure until I start meeting with her one-on-one and she is comfortable enough to divulge that information on her own, but consider the circumstances for a moment, if you would. She is a young girl traveling on her own, apparently fleeing from a place she has known all her life after her mentor disappeared, and for some reason she feels the need to alter her appearance on top of that. Now, what does that sound like to you?"

"Like she's running from something."

"Or someone."

Glynda paused. "...And who do you think that is, exactly?"

"I do not know," Ozpin admitted. "Though I have some ideas. Her mentor, for one – I think there is more to that story than she is letting on, because it seems too suspicious for a professional Freelancer to drop everything in favor of training a young girl for five years, then just disappear without a trace one day. For another, Mistral has a sizable criminal underworld, so it would not be a stretch to believe that they may be after her for one reason or another."

"And why does this matter?"

"Well, if she is being chased, I think it would be better to provide her a chance to get away, don't you? Whoever wants her, and for whatever reason they want her, it can't be good for anyone, least of all her."

Glynda frowned before reluctantly letting out a small murmur of agreement. "…Still, letting her in with the students?"

"I think it could do her some good. I doubt that she has much experience around people her own age. Being on a team could be beneficial."

"Assuming she doesn't snap and cut their throats in their sleep."

Ozpin frowned. "Give her a chance, Glynda. I think that in time she may surprise you."

After a few moments, she sighed. "...Fine," she said tentatively. "I will trust your judgment on the grounds that you have never let me down thus far, and on the condition that you actually address her problems. But I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on her, and I'm going to tell the rest of the faculty to do the same."

The headmaster gave her a thankful smile. "That is all I ask for."

Looking down at the scroll on the table, Ozpin found that the video from the Dust shop was currently paused on it. The frame it had stopped on showed Red standing in front of the four men she had killed moments earlier, her front spattered with blood. The still image provided a clear shot of her eyes, which were glazed over and staring off into the distance at something that only she could see. Looking at it, Ozpin's smile quickly faded.

A tinge of doubt rose up within him, and it took every fiber of his being to quash it before it could grow. He had dealt with troubled children before, and Red would be no exception. As volatile and capable of violence as she was, she still deserved a chance, same as the rest of the troubled youths he had taken in.

And, perhaps in time, she would prove to be just as valuable as many of the others had.

* * *

**So, that's chapter 5. This officially marks the start of what you're all really here for. Next chapter is orientation, and depending on how long it is, possibly initiation. I won't lie, I will **_**probably **_**have to split those two events into two separate chapters, because in my initial drafts initiation alone came out to 22,000 words, ****and that was coming off of about 1****4****,000 words just for orientation****. ****I'm planning to significantly trim this version down to avoid that, because my God, that's a nightmare to read, but I'm fully expecting that ****both of those events are going to have to be put into their own chapters even taking that into account****. I apologize in advance if this is the case, but it is what it is. ****In any case, I'm excited to write some more action scenes.**

**Besides that, I don't really have much else to discuss right now. This chapter was kind of a filler chapter, but a necessary one - I needed to both present a way out for Red, as well as document the beginning of her new life. Next time we'll finally get to see everybody interact with each other for the first time. I hope it lives up to all of your expectations.**

**Next update: Saturday, February 1st. **


	6. Chapter 6

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 6

* * *

The closer she got, the more impressive Beacon looked. From her spot behind the front gate, Red could see multiple big buildings stretched all across the campus grounds, as well as several towers standing tall over everything else. Among them was the CCT tower, which made sense – it wouldn't be as safe if it were anywhere else in Vale, plus the futuristic-looking structure made the rest of the school look impressive simply by virtue of being nearby; a reminder that Beacon's students were perfectly capable of protecting something so vital to the existence of the kingdom.

Seeing all of this, it was almost impressive enough to replace her apprehension with awe. Unfortunately, that was never going to happen; Red was much too nervous for it. Sure, there was excitement as well, but given her history of dealing with Huntsmen, nerves were always going to win out.

The wolf stood there for several minutes, the growing sense of uncertainty somehow slowly becoming even heavier than the bag of belongings she had slung over her shoulder. This was where she was supposed to go, wasn't it? Ozpin had said ten in the morning on Monday, hadn't he? This was the front gate, wasn't it?

Thankfully, Glynda Goodwitch appeared not long after, assuaging her fears. The Huntress scowled slightly upon seeing her, but swiped her scroll across the e-reader and unlocked the gate all the same. The doors steadily opened, allowing Red entry. Glynda motioned for her to follow, and Red hurriedly did as she was told.

"The other students will be arriving shortly," Glynda informed her as they walked. "Ozpin wanted you here a little earlier than most so he could speak with you for a bit. He is waiting for you in the auditorium, which is also where you will store your belongings until tomorrow. Any questions?"

"No, ma'am," Red said.

If Glynda approved, she didn't show any sign of it. Instead, the two of them continued on in silence until they reached the auditorium. The Huntress threw open the double doors for her. Red tipped her head appreciatively, but Glynda had already turned and begun to walk away. Thinking nothing of it, the Faunus continued on into the building, searching for Ozpin. She found him in the center of the room, directing several of the other staff members as they made last-minute arrangements to the area.

"Ah, Miss Canis," the headmaster said as she approached. Turning to the rest of the staff, he said, "Excuse me for a moment."

With that done, he motioned for her to follow, and the two of them stepped into the back of the amphitheatre, out of earshot of anyone else.

"You wanted to talk to me, sir?" Red asked when they were both alone.

"Indeed, I did," Ozpin answered. "And please, there is no need to be so formal – simply calling me Ozpin or Headmaster will suffice, though I much prefer the former." She nodded in understanding, and he continued. "Now, since you will be joining Beacon early, and because you do not seem to have much of a formal education, there are some things that need to be done to ensure that you can meet our academic standards, and to ensure that you are fitting in at school."

"What kind of things?" Red asked, suddenly feeling apprehensive.

"Nothing major, I assure you. For now, I would like for the two of us to meet once a week so we can discuss things such as your academics as well as how you are being treated by your professors and the other students. I was thinking we could start with every Friday at four in the afternoon, though if you find that you cannot fit it into your schedule then I am more than happy to change it to something more suitable."

Red nodded. It seemed agreeable enough, and it wasn't as if she had anything to do outside of school beside exercising and training.

"Excellent," Ozpin said. "Now then, there is the matter of your scroll."

"Don't have one."

"I am aware, which is why I took the liberty of obtaining one for you." At her mortified look, he quickly added, "Beacon has an expense account specifically for students coming from underprivileged backgrounds. Rest assured that this is no trouble, and the benefits of every student having a scroll far outweigh the costs."

Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the scroll and handed it to her. Red took it, then began to examine it.

"This one is a standard model, designed to accomplish anything a young Huntress needs, from taking pictures and videos, to making calls, to browsing the Dustnet, as well as doing things such as monitoring your aura for you." The edges of his mouth quirked up. "I also understand that young people now prefer to have their scrolls play music and games as well, so I made sure to provide you with one capable of such."

It was a nice thought, but ultimately almost all of those functions would go unused. Still, Red wasn't about to tell him that. Instead, she nodded appreciatively, then pocketed it.

"My number has already been put into your contacts list, as has Glynda's," Ozpin explained. "In addition, both of us have your number as well. If you need anything or get into any kind of trouble, do not hesitate to give either of us a call."

"Thank you," Red replied.

He waved her off. "Please, it was no trouble at all. Now then, onto our next and final subject: orientation day. Tell me, how much experience do you have with people your own age?"

"None," Red answered honestly. The camp in Menagerie was generally populated by Sienna's most loyal followers, which typically did not include young people. In the rare moments she did see them around camp, she was always too busy training or too sore from training to approach them.

In fact, the closest she had gotten to someone her own age had been two years ago, and that had been from behind the hilt of a gore-soaked scythe.

"Ah, I see..." Ozpin said, before giving her a small, reassuring smile. "Luckily, you will have plenty of time to gain some today. The other students will be arriving shortly, with most of them coming from the airship landing zones. This would be a great time to get to know some of them, as similarly to you, they will all be entering a completely new area, and will almost certainly have been unable to bring their own friends and family with them."

Red bristled at that, opening her mouth to tell him that she wasn't interested.

"Perhaps this would make a good first assignment," Ozpin mused. "Huntsmen and Huntresses need to know how to act around others in order to be effective at what they do, after all. With that in mind, I would very much like for you to try and speak to at least three other people. You don't need to try to become friends with them over the course of a single conversation, but I certainly would not disparage you if you saw fit to try. Merely speaking with them should be enough at this point."

Red closed her mouth, biting her tongue slightly to stifle her response.

The headmaster absentmindedly checked his watch. "My, time sure does fly. I won't keep you any longer, Miss Canis. You'll find a locker number in your scroll's message inbox, which is where you can deposit your belongings until tomorrow." He turned back to her and gave her another small grin. "Good luck to you. And remember – at least three people."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving her alone. Red watched him go, feeling slightly irritated. Obviously, she had no desire to talk with anybody, and especially not to make friends with any of them – she, in fact, had _no idea _how to make friends, or even what having a friend consisted of and how friends were supposed to act towards each other – but ultimately, he had given her an order, one that she wasn't about to disobey. Getting into Beacon had been a stroke of luck, and she wasn't about to chance jeopardizing it by disobeying.

Ozpin didn't seem like the type to beat her nearly to death and then brand her, but kicking her out of his school was something he was definitely more than capable of.

Forlornly, Red deposited her possessions – but not her weapons – into the locker provided for her and slowly stalked off towards the airship landing zones.

The sooner she could get this over with, the better.

* * *

Watching the airships come down and deposit their cargo of students, Red couldn't help but think this whole thing was an exercise in futility. From her spot many dozens of meters away, she bore witness as eager students happily chatted with one another. At the sight of it, she frowned.

How was she supposed to approach people who were already talking with somebody else? What was she even supposed to say to them? Ozpin had given her no instruction beyond telling her what to do, which irritated her to no end. Even worse was that she was positive he had done so on purpose, for reasons that made sense only to him.

With no idea how to approach someone and initiate a conversation, the wolf Faunus instead watched from afar. Clearly, there was some hidden art to starting up a conversation with somebody, and with no idea how it worked, she was left with no choice but to try and use some of the skills that generally applied elsewhere. In this case, she figured that calling upon her skills as a hunter would work.

Or, rather, they would be better than nothing.

From her seated position on a bench in front of the statue in the courtyard, Red eyed the students as they left the airships. Like hunting, she would wait until a suitable target isolated themselves, then seize upon that moment to strike. The only question was what constituted a perfect target. At first, she had thought that another Faunus would be good… but there was a risk, however small, that they could have been associated with the White Fang in some way. Plus, there hadn't really been any Faunus that she had seen, or at least there hadn't been any that weren't already engaged in conversation with someone.

That last part was the real killer, and was proving to be the most irritating. Hadn't Ozpin said that none of these people had brought their friends or family along with them? If that was true, then how were so many of them talking to each other like they were already familiar? There was no way that any of them had just gone up to a random stranger and initiated a conversation with them. The thought was ridiculous. How would that conversation even go?

With an agitated sigh, Red crossed her arms over her chest. As annoying as all this was, getting mad wasn't going to solve anything. She had a job to do, which meant she had to focus. Redoubling her efforts, the wolf again focused on the students exiting the airships.

There was a blonde boy who seemed suitable at first, but Red quickly pushed that thought away when he sprinted over to the nearest trash can and began to puke his guts out. Why was he even getting sick? It wasn't like he was covered in blood or anything. In any case, he was out due to presumably being incapable of talking and vomiting at the same time.

Next came a black-haired girl wearing a bow on her head. At first, Red thought her bow was a pair of Faunus ears of some kind, but closer inspection revealed it to just be a bow. Idly, Red wondered why she would even wear such a thing – it offered no benefits in combat, and brought with it the chance that someone might mistake her for a Faunus and mistreat her for it. In any case, she seemed like a good choice up until she pulled out a book and retreated into the shade to read. At that, Red frowned. The girl wouldn't appreciate having her personal time interrupted, but in the absence of anyone else, she was the only real choice thus far. Reluctantly, Red classified her as a potential option before moving on.

After her was a tall girl dressed in ornate armor with long, flowing red hair. What was with the girls in this school and long hair? First the bow-wearing ravenette, and now this girl, to say nothing of the countless other females who sported a similar style. Long hair was a liability in combat, nothing more. Still, this girl looked like she knew how to handle herself despite that, if her exposed and well-muscled arms and legs were anything to go by. Her armor was outrageous – no ballistic plating, no aramid to prevent stabbings, lower abdominal muscles exposed, no coverage on her thighs, upper arms, or shoulders, and the armor she did have looked more ceremonial than protective – but at least it was _some _armor, which was more than most others had come with. It may have only been able to stop a handgun round at best, but that was still better than just about everybody else.

Red wasn't sure why she was appraising this girl given that she was currently surrounded by a large amount of people scrambling to talk to her, so she quickly moved on.

The next person made her pause for a second, an unusual feeling welling up in her chest. Red couldn't place it, but it felt… relaxing? Relieving? Familiar, maybe? In any case, long, flowing blonde hair greeted her, coupled with lilac eyes. This girl was tall, though not as much as the red-haired girl before. Similarly, she was also well-muscled, her outfit exposing her upper legs and arms as well as a good amount of her toned stomach, abdominal muscles included. Two golden bracelets adorned each of her wrists – weapons, perhaps? Red didn't know. In any case, this girl had her transfixed, and she wasn't sure why. Obviously, she was a good target for conversation given that there was nobody talking to her currently, but as much as the wolf knew it would be a good idea to approach her, something was screaming at her not to.

What was going on? Familiarity, and then apprehension? Who _was _this girl?

"She's a looker, isn't she?"

Red immediately whipped around to face the origin of the voice, and to her surprise, came face-to-face with the blonde boy from earlier. The two of them blinked, unsure of what to do next.

"Uh, hey," he said with a small wave. "You seemed pretty lonely, so I figured I'd come say hi." In a smaller voice, he added, "Also, I kinda embarrassed myself by getting airsick and nobody else wants to talk to me because of it, so..."

Again, Red blinked. His explanation was suspicious to her – she had no idea why anybody would approach her, of all people, and try to initiate a conversation – but she pushed that thought away. Then, another struck: perhaps this was a mission Ozpin gave to every new student, and he had just neglected to tell her about it. That would explain why they all seemed so eager to talk to each other despite never having met before.

In that case, she was going to take advantage of the situation while she could.

"...Hello," she said awkwardly.

"Hi," the boy said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Already said hey, but..." He took a breath. "Okay! Hey there, my name's Jaune Arc. What's yours?"

"Red Canis," she replied instantly.

There, conversation over. One down, two to go. With that, Red turned back to watching the blonde girl, curious as to why her attention had been captured so intensely.

Next to her, Jaune squinted and followed her gaze. "Man, you're really focused on her, aren't you?"

"She has my attention," Red answered.

For some reason, he chuckled. "I get you. She's definitely really pretty, but now that I look at her, I'm not sure she's my type, personally."

"Type?" Red asked, confused.

"Yeah." He sounded awkward saying it, for some reason. "Uh, I generally prefer girls who – you know what? Never mind. Not going there; too weird for the first conversation with someone new." He took another breath. "So, what do you like to do, Red?"

"Train," came the instant response.

"Oh, of course." He paused. "Uh, besides that?"

"Exercise."

"...I see." Another pause. "You don't, uh, read or anything? Watch TV? Browse the Dustnet? Listen to music? Play video games?"

"...I hunt animals sometimes, when I have ball ammunition instead of specialty Dust ammunition."

"...I see," Jaune said. His tone made it clear that he actually didn't see at all. "...And ball ammunition is…?"

"Full metal jacket round with a lead core and no Dust effect."

"Okay, then," Jaune said, clearly still confused, though at this point Red had tuned him out completely in favor of focusing on the girl.

The blonde suddenly reached into her pocket for her scroll, taking it out and calling someone. It seemed like a fun conversation, because she had a big grin on her face and was laughing frequently. For some reason, watching it made Red feel sad and lonely.

Next to her, Jaune exhaled. "Something tells me you're not interested in talking to me. That's okay. Anyway, I'll see you around, Red."

He turned to leave, but then doubled back. "Actually, I just thought of something. You're clearly interested in that girl, so why don't I ask her to come over here? N-not that you won't approach her yourself! I just know what it's like to try to get someone to notice you, especially when you're really quiet and kind of awkward, and especially when she's really pretty, and I'mJustGonnaGoNowBecauseI'mAccidentallyInsultingYou..."

His words came out so fast and awkwardly that Red barely paid them any attention. It took a while for them to really register in her mind, and when they did, she quickly turned to face him.

"Wait, what?" she asked concernedly.

Unfortunately, he was gone. Frantically, Red turned back to where the blonde girl was, and to her horror, Jaune had approached her and was now talking to her. The girl was staring at him and was clearly confused, but when Jaune motioned back to where Red was sitting, she looked in that direction all the same. When her eyes met Red's, they widened. She said something to Jaune, then began to walk towards the wolf.

Red's heart began to pound. What was going on? Why was this girl suddenly interested in her? Should she run? Escape seemed like a good plan, but as much as she wanted to get away just in case, another part of her was screaming at her, demanding that she talk to this girl for some reason. What made her so important? Red didn't know, but against her better judgment, she decided to find out.

"Hey, there," the girl said with a small smile and wave as she approached. "Vomit Boy told me, among some other things, that you, quote, 'Seemed really interested in me for some reason and it might be a good idea to see what's up, wink wink', unquote." She frowned. "Someone should really teach that guy how to talk to girls. Anyway, I figured I'd come see what was going on, maybe have a nice conversation. Sound good?"

Red didn't respond, unsure what to say. The girl waited for a few seconds before chuckling slightly.

"Tongue tied, huh? I understand. He did mention that you were really quiet. Still, I guess I can take the lead. So, what's your name?"

"Red Canis..." the wolf replied softly.

The blonde hummed. "Canis, huh? That means you're a dog Faunus of some kind, right? Maybe a wolf Faunus?" Red nodded, and she pumped her fist in victory. "Knew it! Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Red. The name's Yang Xiao Long."

In an instant, Red felt her world come to a screeching halt. She froze, both unable and unwilling to accept the reality that had been placed in front of her. Slowly, carefully, she examined the girl once more, and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Now that she had been provided with a name, there was no way she could deny it.

On a certain level, she was glad to see that Yang had not only survived her disease, but had come out of it seemingly without any kind of downsides aside from the recovery time. Her relief and joy lasted for a fraction of a second before it was replaced with something else.

Sheer terror.

Two years ago, Red had been forced to accept that she could never see her family again. How could she? After all the horrible things she had done, there was no way they would see her as anything other than an absolute monster. It was a title that she deserved, but that didn't change the fact that having to experience them finding out would absolutely destroy her. And what about how her family would feel? How would they react to finding out that the little girl they had once known and loved had been turned into an irredeemable killing machine? As much as it hurt her to have to admit, Red could never let them find out, if only because of that reason.

They deserved to remember her as the innocent child she had once been rather than the heartless murderer she was now.

Now panicked, Red immediately turned and tried to run, only for Yang to reach out and grab her by the shoulder.

"Hey, whoa!" the blonde said. "Geez, I knew you were shy, but I didn't think it was this bad." Gently turning her around, Yang flashed her a smile. "I won't hurt you, okay? I just want to talk."

Swallowing nervously, Red simply nodded and did her best to stop from trembling in her long-lost sister's grasp. Seeing it, Yang frowned.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, concerned. "I'm not coming off too forceful or anything, right? I'm not trying to scare you."

Red hurriedly nodded. Anything to end the conversation faster.

At that, Yang's face fell. "Oh… I'm sorry. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but could you do something simple for me? Pretty please? It's really important."

Her expression turned to one of desperation, and Red instantly froze. She wanted to just leave, but against her better judgment, she found herself giving a small nod to her sister's request.

Yang sighed in relief. "Thank you. This won't take long." She took a breath. "I know this is a long shot, but I'm looking for someone. She's a wolf Faunus just like you, so I was hoping that you might know her. She'd be about your age, maybe a bit younger, with red-tipped black hair and silver eyes. Her name's-"

"I've never met anyone like that," Red quickly said.

Yang stopped, then sighed again, this time out of sadness. "That's… that's okay." Red could tell that it wasn't. "Thank you. If you do see her or hear anything about her, could you please let me know, or let Ozpin know? She's my baby sister, and she's been missing for ten years. If you know anything at all, please tell someone."

Yang took her hand off of Red's shoulder and gave her a small wave goodbye before turning and walking away, bringing one hand up to rub at her eyes as she did. Red watched her go, guilt blossoming up within her as she did, though it was quickly replaced with relief.

That was a crisis averted. Unfortunately, it was now clear that Yang would likely be attending Beacon alongside her. She was going to have to take steps to make sure that their paths never crossed in the future.

In a slight daze, Red stumbled off. She was about to find a nice spot to sit down and try to recover from her conversation with Yang when she remembered that she still needed to talk with another person. The realization made her wince. If the previous two conversations were anything to go by, this one was going to be like pulling teeth, especially given that all she wanted to do was curl up and rest somewhere to recover from the shock of seeing Yang.

Reluctantly, Red walked off in search of someone else to talk to. As much as staying by the airships seemed like a good idea, Yang had gone in that direction, which meant it was out of the question. She was just going to have to find somewhere else. Intent on hunting down someone who was just as socially inept as her, Red rounded a nearby corner.

She had barely taken two steps around it when she collided with a luggage cart.

Surprised, Red fell to the ground, though she quickly picked herself up and assumed a fighting stance. The cart was less resilient, however, and turned over on its side, spilling its cargo of suitcases all over the ground. One of the suitcases split open, leaking vials of Dust everywhere.

"Hey, watch it! Do you have any idea who you're-"

Red turned to face the person shouting at her, and froze like a deer in headlights at what she saw.

_No…_

The two of them stared at each other in shock, both uncertain about what to say. After a second, the other girl's gaze traveled to the top of Red's head and she let out a huff.

"Of course. I'm barely on campus for five minutes and already you people are making things difficult for me, as expected." Under her breath, she added, "Animals."

Red gave no indication she had heard the slur. She was too focused on avoiding a panic attack.

It was bad enough that Yang was here, but _Weiss Schnee _was here, too? This was too much. She couldn't stay here. She was just going to have to leave and never come back. If Weiss ever found out the truth, it would be over. She would tell everybody, and the entire school would be after her head.

Worst of all, Yang would find out.

Her mind made up, Red prepared to run away using her semblance before another thought occurred to her.

Where would she go if not Beacon?

There was nowhere else for her. None of the other schools would fit, either because of how she would be treated or because the White Fang had a heavy presence nearby. Menagerie was obviously out of the question. Patch was, too. Most of the major settlements were as well, since the White Fang had cells all across Remnant and often passed through them. At best, she could eke out an existence in a small frontier town somewhere, but while doing so would keep her secrets safe, it provided no opportunity for her to get stronger.

If all she wanted was an escape, it would do nicely. But for what she had planned, she needed a way to test her skills and improve. Grimm would be better than nothing, but the skills gained from fighting them were not applicable to what she needed to improve on.

With a pang of fear, Red realized that Beacon was practically the only place for her.

Slowly shifting her gaze back towards Weiss, Red made a decision. If Weiss hadn't realized who she was yet, then perhaps it wasn't too late. Like Yang, there wouldn't be any problems if Red could just avoid her for as long as she was at Beacon. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was the best one she had. Carefully, Red turned and began to walk away.

To her surprise, something held onto her legs, anchoring her in place. Looking down, she saw two spinning snowflakes encasing her lower legs.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Weiss asked accusingly, marching over to Red and affixing her with a harsh glare. "You spilled my Dust."

Red averted her gaze. "S-sorry..."

"Sorry?" Weiss echoed. "That's military-grade Dust, fresh from the Schnee refinery! Do you have any idea how much it costs?!"

Red flinched, shrinking under the heiress' attention before beginning to tremble nervously. In front of her, she heard Weiss let out a low growl.

"Unbelievable..." the white-haired girl said irritably. "Thousands of lien, down the drain because of some clumsy, ignorant Faunus. Great way to start the year. I'm sure Father will be very pleased."

"Given the way you're treating a Faunus, I think he would be," came a new voice from off to the side.

Both girls turned towards the newcomer. To Red's surprise, it was the black-haired girl from earlier. She was standing there, a stray bottle of Dust in one hand and a _very _angry expression on her face.

Weiss crossed her arms. "I see you've got one of my vials. I'd very much like it back, if you please."

She stretched out a hand expectantly. The ravenette stared at her, her expression unchanged.

"Let the girl go and I'll give it back."

Weiss scowled. "She owes me compensation for the Dust she ruined."

"Wow, try to sound even more like a typical Schnee, why don't you?"

"Excuse me?" the heiress asked, her expression narrowing.

The girl motioned towards Red. "I'm just saying, this whole situation looks very bad for you, don't you think? You've got a Faunus immobilized and you're threatening her over an accident. All this scene is missing is for you to have some SDC guards beat her down and drag her off to one of your mines, maybe give her a brand or two along the way."  
At the mention of being branded, Red flinched slightly. Neither of the girls noticed, being too focused on staring each other down.

Weiss grit her teeth. "I see you're one of those crazy conspiracy nuts who believes all those baseless accusations about my family's business," she hissed.

"And I see you're one of those typical Atlesian aristocrats who's gotten fat off of slave labor and isn't willing to see the truth when it's right in front of you," the amber-eyed girl fired back. "You can go on the DustNet yourself and look up images of it if you don't believe me. Then again, you might not want to – knowing you've been lied to your whole life might make you look at Daddy a bit differently than you do now."

Again, Red flinched. And again, neither girl noticed.

They were too busy drawing their weapons and pointing them at each other.

"You know nothing about my family," Weiss spat, rapier at the ready and one hand prepared to throw down a glyph.

"I know more than enough," the newcomer fired back, clutching her katana. "Apparently, I know more than you do – I'm not the one denying the truth when it's right at my fingertips."

"Doctored photos and false testimonies are hardly proof of anything."

"Doctored? Yes, I'm sure that _every _photo is fake. While we're at it, I'm sure that all the medical reports and legal complaints are, too. Are all Schnees this blind, or is it just you? Guess that ugly scar over your eye isn't just a flesh wound if you can't see something this obvious."

Again, Weiss grit her teeth. "Shut up."

"Or what? Are you going to attack me? Bring it on, then." The girl pulled her sheath from her back, holding it in her off-hand like a second blade. "Unless you plan to use that Faunus girl the same way everyone else in your company does – like a disposable shield. Personally, I'd be surprised if you didn't; you'd need a cheap trick like that, since there's no way a prissy rich girl like you got into Beacon on her own merit."

At that, the heiress bristled. "I earned my way here, the same as everybody else!"

"Really? Because I'd sooner believe that you bought your way in. I mean, it's not like your family has no experience with that, given the odd way your sister got into the military."

That was too much for Weiss. Having finally had enough, the heiress launched herself forwards with a Glyph, rapier point leading the way. The other girl tensed, waiting for the perfect moment to intercept the attack.

It never came.

"Nora smash!"

From out of nowhere, a pink blur landed in front of Weiss with a warhammer held at the ready. The heiress faltered, quickly placing a glyph in front of herself to avoid hitting the new person. Her momentum came to a halt, and she dug her heels in to stop herself from smacking into the obstacle. She slid forward for a few feet, finally stopping just inches away from the person-shaped wall.

Said wall, a short orange-haired girl, promptly raised a fist and, to Weiss' bewilderment, lightly tapped her on the nose with it.

"Boop!"

"Nora, now is not the time," came a male's voice from behind the hammer-wielder.

"Sorry, Ren!"

Craning her neck to see what was happening, Red found that the black-haired girl was currently being blocked by a tall Mistralian boy, their blades interlocked. After a second, the two of them disengaged, both leaping away from each other.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Weiss demanded.

"Stopping you two from making a big mistake, silly!" the girl – Nora – exclaimed cheerfully. "I mean, we haven't even sat through orientation yet, but you two are here fighting!"

"She's right, you know," the boy added. "If the professors saw what you were doing, they would not be pleased. It would be a shame for any potential Huntresses to get kicked out of Beacon before they even had a chance to go through initiation, wouldn't you agree?"

Neither girl said anything in response. After a moment, Weiss stood up straighter and sheathed her sword.

"I don't have time for this," she said disdainfully before turning on her heels and marching back over to her luggage cart.

When she passed Red, she waved her hand, causing the glyphs encasing the wolf's legs to dissipate. Red wasted no time in putting some space between herself and the heiress out of fear. To her relief,

Weiss merely concerned herself with righting her luggage cart and stacking all her suitcases back onto it. She paid no mind to anyone, and after a few minutes – and a final irritated look at her spilled Dust – she was on her way.

Seeing her go, the boy and girl sheathed their weapons before turning back to Red and the ravenette.

"We don't have to worry about you two getting into a fight, do we?" the boy asked.

In response, the tall girl merely shook her head before approaching Red. The wolf shied away from her slightly, causing her to freeze.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asked. "I'm Blake, by the way."

"R-Red Canis," the Faunus answered with a shake of her head. "...Why'd you help me?"

The girl looked confused. "Why wouldn't I help you?"

"You're human..."

At that, she froze. Her eyes widened slightly and her whole body tensed. After a second, she relaxed. "...Yeah, that's true," she said softly. Then, in a more confident voice, she said, "Faunus civil rights are a big issue for me. When I saw her treating you like that, I knew it wasn't right. I had to do something."

Red hesitated. "...Please don't get yourself in trouble trying to help me. I don't deserve it."

With that, she turned and began to walk away. Behind her, she could hear Blake attempting to follow. A quick application of her semblance, and suddenly Red was on the other side of campus, all alone in the gardens.

Once she was in the clear, the wolf slumped against a nearby wall, a heavy sigh escaping her.

Weiss was going to be a problem, she just knew it. Even if she hadn't antagonized the heiress, that would still be true. Now that Weiss seemed like she was going to hold a grudge against her, things were going to get even more difficult.

She was going to have to be extra careful to avoid the heiress as much as possible. If it came down to it, as much as it made her heart ache, she would have to prioritize avoiding Weiss over avoiding Yang. Unlike the heiress, Yang wouldn't be looking for an excuse to get her kicked out of Beacon.

Not yet, at least.

Slumping over slightly, Red sighed heavily once more. Things hadn't been going according to plan so far, but as bad as they looked, there was still a chance for them to get better. It was going to require caution on her part, but that chance was still better than nothing, and was more than enough for her to be willing to try staying in Beacon.

Footsteps nearby caught her attention, causing her to turn and face the direction they were coming from. Red frowned. Had she been followed? Before she could wonder about who it was, they answered her question by turning the corner.

Thankfully, it wasn't anyone she had been expecting.

Surprised green eyes stared in her before blinking.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be here. I'm not bothering you, am I?"

Red shook her head as she breathed an inward sigh of relief. It was just the red-haired girl from earlier. That was good; she could deal with this.

The girl smiled. "I'm glad. The last thing I want is to be a bother." She looked around a bit before turning back towards Red. "...Do you mind if I stay here for a bit?"

Red quirked an eyebrow at that, which earned a nervous chuckle from the girl. "It's, ah, kind of busy out there," she said softly. "Lots of people trying to speak with me. I could use a break. I was planning to spend a bit of time by myself, but I wouldn't want to make you feel unwelcome or kick you out."

"Why?" Red asked.

The redhead gave her a confused look. "Well, that would be rude. You're in the gardens for a reason, aren't you?"

She was, but she wasn't about to tell this girl why. Instead, she turned towards the nearest flower bed, which held roses that were so deeply red they were almost black. Seeing it, Red was instantly reminded of her semblance, which left behind petals that were identical in color.

"...I came to see the flowers," the wolf replied softly.

The tall girl followed her gaze. "It is beautiful, isn't it?" she said. "It's very peaceful here. I wonder if they have any chrysanthemums? Those are my favorite."

"Chrysanthemums…?"

The girl nodded. "They're native to Mistral. They're very pretty flowers, but hard to come by because the upper class likes to hoard them as a status symbol. About the only time you see them outside of a wealthy person's private garden is during a ceremony of some kind." She let out a small, wistful sigh. "I always preferred the crown of chrysanthemums they gave me over the trophies and medals." Turning to Red, she smiled slightly. "What's your name?"

"Red Canis. You?"

At that, the redhead faltered. "...You don't know?" Red shook her head, and her grin widened slightly. "I am Pyrrha Nikos. It's nice to meet you."

"Same."

The conversation trailed off for a few seconds before Pyrrha picked it back up.

"...So, apparently we'll be on teams?"

"Teams of four." She'd had enough experience dealing with Huntsmen to be aware of how they operated.

"Have you given any thought as to who you want on your team?"

The Faunus shook her head. The only things she knew for sure were that she didn't want Weiss or Yang anywhere near her, let alone on her team. Anybody else would be an improvement over either of them. At this point, she would even take someone who was very blatantly racist towards Faunus over those two.

"I haven't either, truthfully," Pyrrha admitted. "Ever since I stepped onto the airship, I've had people trying to corner me and coerce me onto joining their team. Unfortunately, I think they're only interested in my history as a tournament fighter. While I can appreciate the sentiment, I don't think that would make for a good team."

Red eyed her with surprise. "You were a tournament fighter?"

Pyrrha returned the surprised look, though for some reason her smile only grew wider at Red's question. "I was, though I've since retired from the circuit in favor of training to become a Huntress."

Pyrrha's motivations meant nothing to Red, but the implications of her history piqued her interest. If Pyrrha was as strong as she made herself sound, then she would make a perfect sparring partner. It wouldn't be the same as fighting Almost, but the redhead would easily be a step up from just about everybody else that Red had seen so far.

"I think we should be on a team," the wolf blurted out.

Pyrrha blinked, surprised. "You do?"

Red nodded. "I think the two of us would be good for each other. Our skills would improve much faster than if either of us were with someone else. Plus... everyone else is a bit too much to handle..."

To her relief, the redhead nodded. "I would be very open to that. Unfortunately, I don't think teams will be formed until later, and I don't think we'll be able to just pick who we want. But if I get the chance, I will definitely keep an eye out for you."

The wolf felt her heart soar. That was one teammate down and two to go, and more importantly, it was one less slot on her team that could be filled with Blake or Yang. Even better, if Pyrrha was half the fighter she seemed to be, attaining her goal would be much easier than she thought.

Pyrrha's scroll suddenly went off, causing her to sigh. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now – my agent is calling. It was nice to meet you, Red. I hope we end up as teammates."  
Red gave her a curt nod as she turned and departed. When she left, the wolf breathed a sigh of relief.

The day had started off bad, but if she got Pyrrha as a teammate, she would consider it an overall win.

All that was left to do was get through the rest of today and whatever Ozpin had in store for her during initiation. And if her conversation with the redhead was any indication, things were looking up.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. Red was careful to avoid everyone else until it was time to head into the auditorium and listen to Ozpin's speech, then sneaked off to find a quiet spot for herself until it was time for lights out. When that time finally came, she gathered the provided bedding before picking a spot far away from everyone else and lying down. She didn't bother to change into her nightwear or even to remove her weapons first, reasoning that if she was going to be surrounded by humans, Weiss Schnee among them, then she would rather be armed. The wolf waited until it seemed like everyone else was asleep before allowing herself to drift off to what she knew would be a very quick and uneasy rest, but which she would be careful to make the most of considering what awaited her in the morning.

Others, however, found getting to sleep more difficult.

In the middle of the room, a scroll came to life, illuminating lilac eyes as they scanned over the screen. Yang's fingers danced over her scroll as she typed a message to her father. It was nothing special, just a quick goodnight and an update about how things were going so far. He responded with a message saying he loved her before wishing her luck during initiation, which caused her to smile faintly.

Honestly, he could be such a dad at times. She loved him all the same, but still.

In the aftermath of his depression, their relationship had been strained at best. Taiyang had been forced to essentially learn how to be a father again in order to properly care for her and win her respect back. It had been extremely rough, but after a few years, he had succeeded. He had gone from a miserable, alcoholic wreck to a completely sober, doting father. These days, Yang was proud to call him Dad. Their relationship was nearly perfect, but there was still one thing missing.

And it was something that, for a moment, Yang was sure she had found upon arriving at Beacon.

At that thought, her smile faded. When Jaune had approached her and pointed her in Red's direction, it had almost seemed like some kind of miracle. The feeling had only lasted for as long as it had taken Yang to see Red up close, but for a moment, it seemed like she had found the last missing piece her family so desperately needed.

But even a cursory glance at the wolf Faunus had revealed the truth.

For one, there was the age. Yang didn't know Red's exact age, but there was no way she was fifteen – that would make her the youngest person to ever get into Beacon, which was absurd, especially if she believed Red was really her sister. She would have to be some kind of prodigy, and where would she even go to get that kind of training? How had she ended up there? Why had she never escaped, or tried to make contact with her family? Why would she come to Beacon instead of Patch, especially when Patch was so close by?

For another, despite only being five when she went missing, the youngest Rose would have probably still been able to recognize Yang, even if just by name. The fact that she had shown no reaction to Yang's introduction should have been telling enough.

Even more telling than that were the physical features. Red's hair was different, sure, but that wasn't the one that Yang had in mind. Rather, it was her eyes. And not just the color, either.

Yang had seen eyes like hers before.

Patch was popular with Huntsmen, both retired and active duty. Being an island, it had a very small Grimm presence, both because the monsters had few ways to migrate there and because it was easy for trained Huntsmen and Huntresses to patrol the area and keep it relatively safe. Because of this, many saw it as a good spot to stay between missions or retire to altogether, as it meant they would get a break from work. As a result, Yang had been exposed to the Huntress lifestyle from a very young age, and had met her own fair share of them over the years.

As a child, the ones that stuck with her the most had been the men and women who had carried themselves with pride, satisfied with what they were doing. They were always quick to regale anyone who asked with heroic tales of monsters they defeated and people they saved. Listening to them often evoked the same feelings she had gotten from when her parents used to read fairy tales to her and her sister when they were both very little.

But as she got older, she learned there was another side to the job.

When she was young, she never got to see them, generally because they didn't like to come out during the day. Unlike the storytellers, this group generally only came out at night, when the bars began to open. These people never told stories. But then again, they never needed to – their stories were etched into their very being, from battle scars and the ways they carried themselves to the occasional track marks on their arms.

But above all else, their stories were etched into their eyes.

Her mom – that is, Summer Rose – had once told her that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and while Yang had once found that saying to be beautiful, these people proved that it could just as easily be terrifying. While most people had eyes that were full of life, and love, and hope, these people didn't. Their eyes spoke of someone that had seen too much, that had been exposed to the darker side of the world, that had experienced things that the mind was never meant to experience… and that had broken as a result. There was no life, no love, no hope. There was just _nothing._

If the eyes were truly the windows to the soul, then these people had had their souls torn out. There were parts of them that were missing and would never come back. They were broken on a fundamental level.

Everything else about Red had pointed Yang to the obvious conclusion, but it was her eyes that finally sealed it. When the blonde had looked her dead in the eyes and seen that same emptiness she had seen in so many veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses, it had convinced her more than anything else ever could have. Red couldn't be her sister, because accepting Red as her sister would be accepting that she had gone through unspeakable horrors in the time that she had been absent. It would mean that for years, she had suffered on her own, desperately screaming for her loved ones to come help her, and that it had fallen on deaf ears every time. Finally, it meant that after ten years of it, she had finally broken and become a shell of her former self.

Yang refused to accept any of that. The idea that her little sister – the girl she had grown up with, who had been a part of her life ever since she had been brought home from the hospital in Summer's arms, who she had doted on and loved alongside her parents and uncle, and who had loved all of them in turn – had turned into someone like Red Canis… it was too horrible to even consider. Yang couldn't think of anything more terrifying than that.

No, she was still out there somewhere. Yang knew it.

And tomorrow would mark the first steps Yang took towards finding her. Whatever happened during initiation, it was just one less day before she was found.

With that, the blonde turned off her scroll, then rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes, determination filling her head for an instant before it was replaced with dreams of when her family was still whole.

* * *

In one of the corners of the auditorium, away from everyone else, a girl tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. No matter how hard she tried to will herself to drift off, her mind refused. Instead, it was preoccupied with thinking about the events that had transpired during the day.

She had known what coming to Beacon meant for her. She had known that in so doing, she would be turning her back on one of the most important parts of her identity. Still, she had pursued it, knowing that the only alternatives were going back to her parents or going back to _him_.

At the thought of _him_, amber eyes opened, gazing out across the room despite the darkness. As she stared, Blake chastised herself. She had escaped, hadn't she? There was no reason for her to look into the darkness like a frightened child. Rationally, she was safe, at least for the time being.

That didn't change the fact that she couldn't help but feel like there was someone out there, watching and waiting for their chance to strike against her.

Perhaps it was paranoid for her to immediately think of _him _whenever those feelings came to the forefront of her mind. It wasn't like she didn't have any other enemies, after all.

The thought of it made Blake frown. School hadn't even officially started, yet she had already made an enemy out of Weiss Schnee. To a certain extent, it was understandable – even if Weiss had done nothing to earn her ire, Blake would hate her simply out of principle due to her family name – but that didn't change the fact that she was going to have to watch herself. Weiss was powerful, rich, and very well-connected. It was certainly possible for her to make Blake's time at Beacon a nightmare.

Or, perhaps, someone else's.

Blake's thoughts immediately turned to the little wolf Faunus. Red Canis. For the crime of making a simple mistake, she had earned Weiss' ire. If the Schnee heiress hadn't already been planning to make the wolf's life at Beacon absolutely miserable simply for being a Faunus, then she definitely was now. In any case, Red had Blake's sympathy. Nobody deserved to be on the receiving end of a Schnee family grudge, least of all someone as quiet, unassuming, and innocent as Red seemed to be. Blake would do her part to help Red out whenever she could, but unfortunately, that was all she could do.

As much as she wanted to do more, Blake had secrets of her own to keep, secrets that required her to keep a healthy distance from everyone else, lest they be revealed to the world.

Getting into Beacon had been a stroke of luck. Ozpin had happened to come across her as she wandered through the Forever Fall, and rather than question her as to why she was wandering around Grimm-infested woods, he instead seemed impressed with the fact that she had managed to survive out there for as long as she had, and extended an invitation for her to attend Beacon. It was all extremely suspicious, but if Ozpin suspected anything about her past, he didn't seem to care.

In Blake's eyes, he would be the only human who didn't. If anyone else learned of her past, she had no doubts about what would happen to her. Imprisonment was the best she could hope for. Other Faunus would be lenient towards her, but it was still a risk she wasn't willing to take.

Hence, the bow and her name change.

Anything that connected her to the White Fang had to go. That meant covering up her ears – very painfully, at that; the bow had to be wrapped tight in order to keep her ears secured flat against her head, which both left her partially deaf and made her ears feel like they were about to fall off – and tossing aside her last name. Having to do both made her feel sad, but they were for a good cause, and they were only temporary.

Once Adam was removed from the White Fang, she could leave Beacon and return to them. After what he had tried to do in the forest, it was only a matter of time before he went too far and the group was forced to kick him out and disavow him. Once that happened, Blake could safely go back. She wouldn't have to fear him trying to go too far, or trying to push her into going too far alongside him.

More importantly, she would never have to be afraid of him taking his anger out on her again.

With a sigh and one last look around the room, Blake closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep once more.

Tomorrow was a new start. Temporary as it was, she would do her best to make the most of it.

She owed it to people like Red to make sure that she did.

* * *

Weiss stared up at the ceiling, not even slightly tired. Her mind was going a mile a minute as it replayed the events of the day.

Needless to say, none of it had gone the way she had wanted it to.

Getting to Beacon was supposed to be a chance to get out from under her father's thumb for four years. It was a small miracle that he had even agreed to let her come here rather than Atlas, yet she had almost ruined it by getting into a fight before school had even begun. In her haste, she hadn't realized the possible ramifications that drawing steel against another student could have had. She was lucky those two had come along to break things up before they got too heated.

That didn't mean she regretted it.

For one, that Faunus owed her. While she could have knocked over Weiss' luggage by accident, the heiress knew better than to believe that was the case. No Faunus had ever treated Weiss or her family with anything less than sheer vitriol, and there was no reason for her to think that the wolf girl was any different.

And of _course _she had to be a wolf Faunus. A regular Faunus was bad enough, but she _had _to be a wolf, because apparently Weiss didn't already have enough reminders of the worst day of her life.

Silver eyes and red-tipped black hair suddenly popped into her mind, causing her heart rate to spike. She suddenly felt like she was trapped. Staying in the auditorium was a mistake, especially with all the Faunus students around. All it would take was for her to close her eyes, then that wolf Faunus from earlier was going to come by and cut her throat, leaving her to drown in her own blood before-

"D-deep breaths, Weiss…" the Heiress softly muttered to herself. "Remember what Doctor Blau taught you..."

Placing one hand on her stomach and one on her chest, Weiss slowly breathed in through her nose, feeling her stomach expand as she did so. When her lower lungs were full of air, she slowly exhaled, releasing it all out through her mouth, feeling her stomach fall as she did so. She repeated this in a cycle, four to six breaths every minute for ten minutes. By the end of it, her heart rate had returned to normal, and a sense of calm settled over her.

Speaking of miracles, Doctor Blau had proven to be another, though unfortunately her father hadn't approved. Initially, when she had tried to go see a doctor, her father had instantly put a stop to it, saying that he would never allow such weakness in the inheritor to the company. Thankfully, that hadn't been the end of it; having an older sister in the military had its perks. Winter had quickly set her up with a military doctor, whom Weiss would visit once every week under the guise of receiving special training from General Ironwood. It would have been a shaky cover story had Ironwood himself not corroborated it every time Jacques inquired with him about it. A small smile crossed Weiss' face at the thought.

A miracle, indeed. She truly owed Winter more than she could ever repay. Even if Winter refused to hear it whenever Weiss tried to tell her that, the heiress knew that it was true. Some day, she would be sure to pay her sister back for everything she had done.

But first she had to get through Beacon.

The smile quickly faded from Weiss' face. If orientation was any indication, that was going to be easier said than done. Already she had made two enemies – one was understandable, but the other was confusing. To a certain extent, Weiss could understand why the tall girl had come to the Faunus' aid – clearly, she wasn't being targeted by the entire Faunus race the same way Weiss was, and therefore had no reason to hate them to the same extent as her – but the heiress had no idea why she seemed so intent on believing such insane conspiracy theories about her family's company. She was hardly the first, but she had seemed to embrace them with a fervor that Weiss had only ever seen in the Faunus community.

And she tended to disregard what they had to say for obvious reasons, not the least of which was bias. It was understandable to a degree – having your town's entire economic infrastructure bought out and brought under the SDC, then being forced to work for them would leave a sour taste in anyone's mouth if only due to the loss of autonomy – but that was no excuse to make up such petty rumors and slander. The SDC had been formed by Nicholas Schnee, one of the most honorable men to have ever walked across Remnant, and Weiss refused to believe that her father had reduced it to the state its detractors claimed it to be in. As much as she disliked the Faunus, even she had to admit that the things the SDC had been accused of doing to them were far beyond anything she would have ever been capable of approving of.

Still, as it was now, it wasn't as if the company purposely discriminated against Faunus, despite her father's – and, admittedly, her own – thoughts on that matter. The truth was, Dust mining was dangerous work no matter who did it. The fact that Faunus were more likely to suffer injuries and diseases due to the work was simply a result of their own biological advantages in the form of natural night vision. Why would the SDC waste money on equipping human miners with lights when they could just have Faunus workers mine using their own night vision? It just made economic sense. Any claims of discrimination were unfounded given that they were just having the Faunus work at what they were naturally best at.

She wasn't even going to get started on some of the more out-there claims. Seriously, company towns? Branding? Indentured servitude? Where did people come up with this stuff? It was all ridiculous.

Of course, that just made the whole thing even more confusing. Weiss sighed. It wasn't going to be a concern of hers much longer, given that she would soon be placed on a team without either the wolf or the amber-eyed human girl, which meant she would likely never have to interact with either one ever again.

With that thought, Weiss rolled over on her side and rolled her eyes, intent on getting some sleep.

Tomorrow was a brand new day. Whatever it brought, it was going to be worth experiencing, even if only for one reason: it kept her away from her father. The thought brought another smile to her lips just as she passed out.

Thank goodness for small miracles.

* * *

**It begins. The gang's all here, meaning we can start getting to the good stuff. Next chapter is initiation itself, and as much as I would like to combine it with this chapter, it's looking like it's going to be above 20,000 words (despite my best efforts, unfortunately), so it's going to have to be its own chapter. That being said, it's going to consist of a lot of action, so I'm excited to get into it. **

**As for the characters, I'm changing up a few things. Red is a guilt-ridden mess desperate to avoid her sister and Weiss, so expect to see that come into play. Similarly, Yang is desperately looking for her missing sister, but while that will be a part of her character, it won't be the only part; there'll be more to her than that, trust me. Blake is apparently convinced that she can head back to the White Fang at some point, as she's certain the problem is Adam and nothing else; this was done because I always found her conflict with Weiss over the White Fang to be a little forced (if she left the organization specifically because it was getting out of control, why defend them to the extent she did in V1?), hence why I've tweaked things a bit so she's convinced it's only Adam that's the problem, and that he'll definitely get kicked out so she can head back, any day now. Weiss, meanwhile, is in full V1 mode, but turned up to 11 – she's pretty much outwardly racist towards Faunus at the moment, and isn't too happy with Red. At the same time, there is a lot of trauma there due to what happened two years in the past, but she's quick to bury it beneath more racism and anger in order to prevent other people from seeing it and thinking of her as being vulnerable. **

**As for Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora… well, there's not much to say. This is, first and foremost, a RWBY-centric story, so while they will be present, their roles will be somewhat diminished to that of supporting characters. I've experimented with trying to make Jaune a secondary protagonist, and it just didn't work – it didn't really add anything to Red's story, and since I'm replacing the Jaunedice arc with something else entirely, he was always going to be a bit out-of-focus there. It was basically like trying to tell two different stories at the same time, one of them being original and the other being too close to canon for comfort. I could have changed things up a bit, but these chapters are already going to be long as hell, and I'd rather not double them, especially since it would be a separate story from RWBY's entirely and wouldn't add anything to them.**

**TL;DR: Peace to all the fans of JNPR out there, but this is not their story.**

**Anyway, that's about all I've got. Next chapter we'll check in with the characters for a bit, get to initiation and team formation, and start to see just how dysfunctional I can make this cast of characters when they're put together in close proximity and also when they all hate each other.**

**Place your bets: who's going to be the resident problem child on the team? Is it going to be Red with her trauma and guilt complex, Yang with her desire to find her sister, Blake with her White Fang and Faunus obsession, or Weiss with her everything and the kitchen sink? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.**

**Next update: Saturday, February 15.**


	7. Chapter 7

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 7

* * *

The first sensation she had was the stench of fresh blood filling her nostrils, poisoning the air she breathed with its metallic tang and forcing a cough out of her.

The next thing she felt was pain.

It was everywhere, from her head to her feet. Her torso was on fire and soaking wet, which she knew meant that someone had sliced it open. It was a shallow cut, but it burned in the way that only a blade tipped with Fire Dust could. The slight stench of burning flesh, barely discernible through the cloud of spilled blood, only confirmed her suspicions.

Taking a few deep breaths, she winced. Every time she drew in air, it caused waves of pain to radiate across her entire body. One of her arms was broken, as was her collarbone. One of her legs felt fractured, and the other was numb. Fear lanced through her for a moment as she reached down, panicked, in order to ensure that it was still attached. Upon feeling it, a sigh of relief escaped her. Now that she thought about it, she had felt this sensation a few times before, when she had been hit by Lightning Dust.

That relief was short-lived, lasting only a moment before it was replaced with panic once more.

Frantically, she opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. Something was covering her face, and she quickly reached up to feel what it was.

The familiar feeling of a featureless, white ballistic face mask met her.

Immediately, her breath began to come out ragged once more, her fear only increasing.

"No..." she whispered to herself. Slowly, agonizingly, she pushed herself into a sitting position in order to get a look around the room, desperately hoping that none of this was real.

To her horror, it was.

She was lying in what appeared to have once been someone's living room. The furniture was shredded to pieces, scored with deep gouges and bullet holes, or missing entire chunks. The wood-paneled walls were in a similar state. Acrid smoke from spent Dust bullets filled the air, mixing with the stench of blood to form a sickening miasma that threatened to choke anyone who breathed it in. Where old family pictures and sentimental keepsakes had once stood, now there were only shattered frames and broken glass.

The only signs that there had once been a happy family here were currently lying in the center of the room, face-up on the floor.

In a trance, she pushed herself onto her feet and limped over to them. There were two – one man and one woman. The man was dressed in Atlesian military fatigues, and while the woman wasn't in uniform, the dog tags around her neck and the pistol next to her hand were more than enough to show that she was cut from the same cloth he was.

Death hadn't been clean for either of them. The man was covered in cuts and stabs, but the final blow had come in the form of an explosive pistol round to his torso, which had blown away part of his chest and exposed his heart. The woman, while absent most of the superficial injuries the man boasted, was missing her right leg, which had been severed just above the knee. Judging by the large pool of blood surrounding her, death had come quick in the form of exsanguination.

A glance at both of their hands revealed the two were wearing matching rings.

Suddenly, disgust and guilt welled up within her. She had to leave, quickly. Turning on her heel, she limped over towards the door, but a small sound from behind her caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Eyes widening in horror behind her mask, she slowly turned around, praying that it had been nothing.

If only she had been so lucky.

There, in the middle of the doorway, was-

* * *

Green eyes shot open as Red catapulted awake, her breath rapid. A quick, frantic look around the still-dark room was of little help, as the terror refused to leave her mind. Shakily, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, trying to catch her breath and slow her pounding heart.

"J-just a dream..." she muttered to herself, so quietly that even another Faunus would struggle to hear it. "Calm down. That's not you anymore..."

After several minutes spent deeply breathing and softly whispering reassurances to herself, the wolf felt a sense of calm begin to spread over her. With shaky legs she stood up, then looked out the nearest window. The sun wasn't yet visible, but the sky was beginning to turn a lighter shade of black; by her estimate, it was around 5:00 in the morning. That meant she had woken up a bit later than she was used to, but it was of little concern, given that she had been sleeping a bit better ever since leaving the White Fang.

Still, that meant she had only gotten about six hours of sleep. Not enough for her to feel sleep-deprived, and certainly more than she had been used to getting over the past year or so, but still not great given that she was supposed to go through initiation in just a few hours.

The idea made her frown. Neither Ozpin nor Glynda had told them anything about what initiation would consist of other than that it would be at 10:00 and that it would be difficult. It was obviously some kind of test, but that didn't mean she was okay with how little she knew about it.

Going into missions without appropriate knowledge had bothered her greatly ever since the attack two years ago.

Still, even despite that, not knowing exactly what she was supposed to do was making her mind go a mile a minute. Did they want her to fight other students? Somehow, she doubted it; while they sometimes were forced to fight humans, most Huntsmen almost exclusively fought Grimm – and it showed, given how many had fallen to her over the course of her time in the White Fang – which meant that whatever the test involved, it would probably have them up against Grimm.

The thought was reassuring. Grimm were completely mindless, and cared only for killing people. She could slaughter them all day and not feel event the slightest bit of guilt or remorse about it. If the test consisted of nothing but a fight against some Grimm, it wouldn't be any trouble.

Of course, there was still the problem of forming a team. Like the mission parameters, team formation had also not been explained to them. Perhaps it was random? The thought made her shudder. She didn't know what she would do if she got paired up with Weiss or Yang.

Luckily, the odds of that happening were low. Out of this many students, it was very unlikely that she would end up with either one on her team, let alone as a partner. That was good; Red would gladly take anyone except those two. Jaune, Pyrrha, even the amber-eyed girl or one of the pair that had broken up the fight yesterday would have been just fine.

Before she could think on it any further, her stomach growled loudly, which made her frown deepen. If the itinerary that Ozpin had sent her the day before was any indication, the cafeteria – the place where food was served, apparently – wouldn't open for another hour. It was irritating; she was used to being able to eat whenever she wanted to, either by cracking open a stolen Atlesian military ration while in the field or by hunting down an animal back at base camp.

She wasn't even officially in school yet and already she felt regimented. Things were going to take some getting used to.

With nothing else to do, Red decided to grab a quick shower first. Having caught a glance at the locker room earlier, it seemed that showers in that building were communal, though thankfully they were separated into their own little stalls complete with opaque glass doors.

All the better to keep anyone from seeing her scars.

* * *

Remarkably, the showers at Beacon seemed to never run out of water. To say that Red was happy would have been an understatement; it would have been more accurate to say she was in _sheer bliss_.

Back at base camp, the water had to be carefully rationed, and there was never enough. Showers tended to last a few minutes at most, and only ran hot for as long as it took the small uncut Fire Dust crystals to finish dissolving in the water reservoir, which was generally only about a minute or two. Here, though? They ran hot _forever_.

Needless to say, her plan of a quick shower was very rapidly abandoned.

As she languished in the shower, letting the hot water cascade over her head and down her back, her thoughts turned to her future at Beacon. What would it consist of? Would it be similar to her training in the White Fang? What would her team be like? Her mind racing, she happened to glance up at the stainless steel shower head, catching a glimpse of her reflection through the steam. Her skin, reddened by the hot water, only made her multitude of scars stand out even more.

Did someone like her even deserve to be at Beacon?

Idly, Red lowered her head and began to trace over some of the scars on her body. Each one was a remnant from a mission, and boasted a story of its own. Here, a gunshot on her left thigh, just an inch away from her femoral artery, a reminder of one of her first near-death experiences; there, a slash across her back, seeming to still radiate with the phantom pain of frostbite from when the Ice Dust had started to take effect, even though it had been years ago.

And there were others, too – assorted gunshots, slashes, and punctures; electrical burns, shrapnel scars, even a bite mark on her right calf from when somebody had sicced an attack dog on her. Each one spoke of a brush with death, a mission completed, and another body buried.

Only a small handful of them told of something else. And of those, only one indicated a time when she had refused to kill.

Brushing her hand over the insignia on her stomach, Red winced when she felt the familiar phantom pain begin to come rushing back. In her five years of field operations and injuries, that was still the most painful, both because of the physical aspect of it and because of the betrayal it brought with it. But in the end, the pain had been worth it – Weiss Schnee had lived. And even though Red had made an enemy out of her the day before, that didn't change the fact that in the wolf's eyes, it had been more than a fair trade.

Having finally had enough of the shower, Red reached for the handle and twisted, shutting off the water and leaving her standing there. Grabbing her towel and drying off before hastily taking a fresh set of clothes off from their position slung over the shower door, Red decided on the answer to her question.

She might not have deserved to be at Beacon with everyone else after all she had done, but it ultimately made no difference. She was here now, and she was going to make the most of it. Her guilt would remain, and her sins were far from absolved, but as far as she was concerned, neither of those things were going to matter for what she had planned.

Now dressed in regular clothes, Red moved over to her locker and punched in the combination, then retrieved the things that made up her combat outfit. The shopkeeper had given her a deep discount on everything in his store out of gratitude, and at his insistence, she had made sure to take full advantage of it in order to get properly geared up. It was a far cry from what she had been outfitted with in the White Fang, but it would do just fine for whatever Beacon had in store for her.

Once she was properly dressed, the Faunus took a glance at her scroll. 6:13; just in time for breakfast.

As she moved out of the locker room and towards the cafeteria, the only thought on her mind was a plea that Weiss and Yang liked to sleep late.

* * *

The cafeteria was mostly empty, save for a few students who didn't even glance in her direction. From agar, Red noticed that some of them were praying before eating – asking for a blessing before going through initiation, no doubt. Religion had never been a huge part of Remnant's history, but it was certainly something that quite a few people decided to partake in. Red had tried to participate, if only to try and ease her guilty conscience somewhat, but it hadn't helped.

The church's teachings were nice, but it was difficult to live by them when she already knew that the paradise it promised had no space for her after all she had done.

Counting her luck that she hadn't been noticed, Red grabbed a tray and began to fill it up with anything that looked appetizing. Unused to regular civilian food as she was, she had no idea what was good. Some of them were recognizable – bacon, eggs, sausages, toast; each of them went on her plate. There were others, though, that were confusing.

What was the difference between pancakes and waffles, besides appearance? What separated Atlesian Toast from regular toast? What in the name of Remnant was a scone? Most importantly, why did almost none of them look appetizing? Looking around, she saw that most of the other students had at least one of them on their plate. Obviously, these things must have been good if that was the case.

Shrugging her shoulders, the Faunus reached for a small stack of pancakes before moving on, grabbing a glass of milk (what was the difference between whole milk and regular milk?), and taking a seat at the table furthest away from everyone else. Once seated, she dove right in, starting off by taking a bite of her pancakes.

It took all of her willpower to swallow the chunk she had bitten off rather than spit it out. Once she had choked it down, she stared at the offending breakfast food, perplexed.

What was this? Why was it so sweet? It was like eating a mouthful of raw sugar. Did they really serve this in a school full of aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses? Ever since she was five years old, her diet had been strictly controlled by Sienna and Almost. If it wasn't a fruit, a vegetable, a type of meat, or some kind of grain, she generally wasn't allowed to have it. Anything that was as riddled with sugar as these pancakes were was right out. They had their reasons, of course – if she was going to be the best they needed her to be, she needed to be in peak physical condition, which meant tightly regulating what she ate to make sure it was actually nutritious.

The thought made her scowl. She distinctly remembered being immensely sad when they informed her that she was no longer allowed to eat anything with sugar in it, and even though that had been ten years ago, the wolf had been looking forward to at least trying some of the things she had been banned from eating now that she was free of them. Unfortunately, given the amount of time that had passed, it seemed she had lost her taste for anything sweet. With a small sigh she pushed the plate of pancakes away, instead digging into everything else on her tray.

She got three bites in before someone rushed over and roughly sat down next to her.

Red paused, her fork halfway to her mouth, before sighing and putting it down, then turning to face whoever decided to sit next to her.

Excited turquoise eyes met her. Confused, she blinked once, causing the girl in front of her to grin widely.

"Hiya!" She said happily. "You might not remember me, but I remember you! We met yesterday! Well, not really met, since Ren and I just stopped a fight in front of you, then you ran off before we could introduce ourselves! Oh, Ren's the guy I was with! We came to Beacon together, but then again we do everything together, even though we're not together-together, you know?"

The wolf blinked once more. She was the one with the speed semblance, yet this girl's conversation was outpacing anything she had ever experienced before. Trying to follow along with what she was saying was like trying to count the individual rounds being fired out of a machine gun.

"...What?" Red asked.

"Sorry, Nora is just excited about initiation today," came a male voice from behind her. Turning, Red found the tall Mistralian boy from the day before. He put his own breakfast tray on the table before taking a seat next to the girl.

Inwardly, Red cursed. She just wanted to eat her food in peace.

"How can you _not _be excited, Ren?!" Nora all but shouted. "We're getting into Beacon today! And we get to smash Grimm! And Beacon serves _pancakes!_"

"I'm aware," he replied. "And while I am happy about all of that, I don't think the last part warranted approaching this girl when she was trying to eat."

The longer this conversation went, the more confused Red got. "...You decided to talk with me because of pancakes?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, I decided to talk with you because of what you refused to do with those pancakes!" the orange-haired girl replied, somehow no less excited than when the conversation had started.

The conversation tapered off, going dead for several seconds. After a bit, the wolf realized that the two were expecting her to reply.

"...I refused to eat them?"

"Got it in one!" Nora said. Then, just as quickly, she slammed both hands on the table and leaned forwards onto her elbows, staring at Red. Her happy expression was suddenly replaced with a questioning one, all joviality having disappeared as rapidly as it had arrived.

"And the only question is _why_," Nora said in a sinister voice.

Suddenly fearing a fight, Red's right hand slowly fell under the table, covertly wrapping around the grip of her pistol. The very idea of fighting over something this ridiculous was… well, ridiculous. Then again, Nora came off as unpredictable and crazy after just about a minute of conversation, so as far as Red was concerned, it wasn't that far outside the realm of possibility.

Next to Nora, Ren sighed tiredly. "Nora, I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for it."

"I have to _know, _Ren," the ginger replied, her tone no less sinister. "If she's one of those Atlesian Toast-eating degenerates, I have to know. If she is, that makes her my opposite. And if she's my opposite, then we must be rivals. The rules dictate as such."

"And which rules are these?"

"The rules you pick up from watching a lot of Mistralian animated shows. And don't try to act like you don't know what I'm talking about just because you want to seem cool now that we're at Beacon; you can't take back all the time we spent watching them together."

The boy was silent before reluctantly sighing. "...The one with the bounty hunters in space was good."

"Aha! You finally admit it!"

"What do you two want?" Red interrupted, finally sick of trying to follow their conversation.

Both of them exchanged glances before Nora spoke. "Y'know, just a reason as to why you're ignoring those fluffy, golden-brown discs of sugary goodness over there!"

The wolf could have sworn she felt a vein pop somewhere. That was it? That was what she wanted? They interrupted her breakfast and trapped her in the most annoying conversation she had ever been a part of because they were curious about her taste in breakfast food? It was so absurd that she honestly had no idea how to respond.

Finally, she deflated. "...I don't like them, that's all."

Nora's left eye twitched. "You don't like them."

It was a statement, not a question. Red nodded. "Yes. They're too sweet, and riddled with sugar. I can't eat sugar."

"You can't eat-" Suddenly, the orange-haired girl trailed off, freezing in shock. She looked at Red once more, her even expression turning to one of sheer horror. Blindly, she groped around for Ren's hand, eventually finding it and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Ren, it's worse than we thought!" Nora exclaimed in a panic. "She's… _diabetic_..."

The last word was whispered with no small amount of horror. Next to her, Ren sighed tiredly.

"Nora, I'm sure that's not why."

"I haven't eaten anything really sugary in years and gradually lost my taste for it to the point that I now find anything too sweet to be disgusting," Red said evenly, tired of beating around the bush.

"Oh," Nora said, instantly sobering up. "Well, why didn't you say so? And here I was, all hyped to declare you my eternal rival. I was thinking you were going to be the anti-Nora or something."

From where Red was sitting, she seemed to fit that description pretty well, though she was careful not to say that aloud. Instead, she simply stared at the hyperactive girl with an even expression.

"Yes, that is the only reason," Red said, slowly and carefully. "Now, I'm going to eat my breakfast."

With that, the wolf tuned out the rest of the world in favor of finishing her food. Next to her, Nora let out a disappointed sigh, which Ren followed up with one of his own.

"Come on, Nora. Let's leave her to it." The two of them rose, grabbing their trays in the process. "See you around, Red."

She didn't respond. The two of them walked off, leaving her alone.

As she ate, Red mentally crossed the two of them off her list of possible teammates. There was no way she was going to put up with either of them. Ren seemed okay, but if him and Nora truly did everything together, then he had to go, if only so she never had to be around Nora again.

With that, the list shrunk down to just Jaune, Pyrrha, and Blake.

* * *

After breakfast, Red was left with little to do before initiation started. She spent whatever time she had left checking over her gear, cleaning her weapons and making sure that her outfit was in order. Said outfit got a lot of odd stares from the others in the locker room, which confused Red to no end.

In her opinion, she was the only one in the whole room who was properly outfitted, since she had actually put on a bulletproof vest over top of her regular clothes. It wasn't much – just a vest containing some steel plates on her chest, back, and sides – but it was still more than everyone else, and even though it was slightly anemic in terms of its protection compared to what she was used to, Level III body armor seemed like it would be more than enough to protect her from what most of the other students were carrying.

Soon enough, the time came to head out. Professor Goodwitch called them all out to the cliffs, and they all filed out, eventually taking positions on the edge overlooking the Emerald Forest. Red took note of the metallic object under her feet, but raised no objections to it, figuring it was there for a reason.

Looking around, the wolf could see everyone she had met. Just a few people away, she could see Jaune and Blake. Jaune looked incredibly nervous for some reason, and kept looking around for something. Blake, meanwhile, seemed determined.

Farther away were Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha. Pyrrha gave her a friendly smile and a wave when she looked, while Ren and Nora were deep in conversation about something and not looking in her direction.

Towards the end of the line were Yang and Weiss, though thankfully Red couldn't see anything except their hair through the line of people. That was good; the last thing she wanted was to look one of them in the eyes and lose her focus before going into initiation. With a brief reminder to herself to carefully avoid both of them, Red turned to face the headmaster as he stepped up to address them.

"You have all worked very hard to get here today," he began. "For that, you should all be proud of yourselves. However, we cannot allow just anybody into Beacon Academy. Becoming a Huntsman is a very difficult and dangerous job. It is not for everybody, even if they managed to meet the basic requirements for application. This test today will determine which of you will continue into Beacon and which of you will need to reevaluate your skills, train harder, and possibly apply again next year."

Pausing for a sip from his mug, he continued, "Your objective today will be to retrieve a relic from the forest temple and present it to me. There will be one relic for each pair of partners – no more and no less. You will not be graded based on how many Grimm you defeat or how fast you complete your task, but do be aware that there is a time limit. Should you fail to complete initiation by evening, I will send some of my staff to retrieve you." A faint smile crossed his face. "Needless to say, if we need to come get you, either because you ran out of time or because you found yourself in need of assistance before then, you have failed initiation."

Red nodded in understanding. So far, it all seemed straightforward… and if she was being honest, kind of easy. It was definitely a far cry from what she had been doing in the White Fang.

Honestly, she was slightly underwhelmed. She had been expecting something more difficult, and had stocked up on supplies just in case. Now, it seemed as though she had over prepared, unless there was a catch she wasn't aware of.

"Now then, for the question I know you're all desperate to hear answered: yes, you will be assigned a partner today, and yes, they will be your partner for the next four years. Because an important part of becoming a Huntsman is learning to work with any of your peers no matter who they are, the method of determining partners will reflect this."  
His grin widened slightly. "Whoever you make eye contact with upon landing in the Emerald Forest will be your partner. No exceptions."

The Faunus was floored. _This _was how they determined partners? It seemed completely and utterly asinine. Still, she could make it work if she was careful.

All she had to do was find one of the three people on her list, and she would be set.

Ozpin took another sip before gazing out over the crowd once more. "In addition, teams will be decided today. As for how… well, I believe all of you will be smart enough to figure that out once you get to the temple. Now then, our first test: the landing strategy."

Far down the line, Red heard a machine activate, followed by a panicked shout. Turning, she saw a young man flying through the air towards the forest, clearly having been flung somehow. In moments he was little more than a wildly flailing speck in the distance. He managed to recover quickly, pulling out his weapon and firing off several shots, slowing himself enough that he could safely land in the forest.

Immediately, Red reached for the rifle on her lower back. Unfolding it, she removed the magazine of Fire Dust and ejected the chambered round, loading Gravity Dust in the place of each. The sudden cacophony of mechanical noise around her indicated that she wasn't the only one.

"The landing strategy is a basic technique, but an essential one," Ozpin said, his speech punctuated by the sound of more machines activating and students being thrown off towards the forest. "It differs greatly from person to person according to things such as their weapon type and semblance. As an instructor, I find it a useful tool to gauge everyone's overall skill level with, as well as their weapon preferences and semblance type."

"Uh, Professor Ozpin, sir?" Jaune suddenly asked, frantic.

The headmaster turned to him. "Yes, Mister Arc? Did you have something to say? And please, call me Headmaster Ozpin, or just Ozpin."

"J-just a little something, sir – uh, Headmaster! Sorry..."

"I see. You might want to say it quickly then, because I'm afraid that it's your turn."

"Huh?"

Looking over his shoulder, Jaune saw that everyone else who was in front of him had already been launched. He paled, then turned around, his eyes wide. He had just enough time for a brief statement, and he made sure to make it count.

"Ah, poop."

And then he was flying like all the rest. Red noted that he seemed to be much less organized and refined than the others had, even the first boy who had been taken by surprise. It was almost like he didn't have a landing strategy at all, but that would have been a ludicrous thing to think of someone who had gotten into a Huntsman Academy.

Also, he screamed like a little girl. That was good to know; it could help her track him down once she got into the forest.

The line of students began to dwindle, and soon it was just her standing there at the very end. She looked towards the headmaster for instruction. He paused, his mug halfway to his mouth, and gave her a reassuring grin.

"Good luck to you, Miss Canis. I look forward to seeing how you perform, and to seeing what your partner is like."

Nodding once in understanding, Red brought her rifle to her shoulder in preparation.

And within moments, she was airborne.

* * *

Red flew for only a few seconds before she started to fall. It wasn't nearly enough time to get a glimpse at where she was going, but she would make do regardless. Pointing her rifle in front of her, the wolf fired off several shots to slow herself down. Then, as she began to plummet, she fired a few towards the ground. Because of this, the landing, while not comfortable, wasn't nearly as damaging as it could have been.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, she rolled forwards a bit before stopping, her rifle at the ready. Looking around, she saw nobody. No students, and no Grimm. No sign of the forest temple, either.

Unperturbed, she replaced her empty magazine with a full one before setting off through the underbrush in search of a suitable partner.

She was only walking for about a minute when she heard a scream off in the distance.

Her ears perked up, and she instantly froze. From the sound of things, it was a girl's scream. Could it have been Pyrrha, or maybe Blake? Probably not; there were plenty of other female initiates, so it would have been foolish to instantly assume that it was one of them.

But what if it _was _one of them, though…?

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Red tiredly rubbed at her eyes. In all likelihood it wasn't, but she would never forgive herself if it was and she let them slip away. Like it or not, she was going to have to check.

Turning towards where the scream had come from, she took off running.

* * *

Weiss sighed irritably as she dusted herself off.

"Not my best landing..." she muttered.

It should have been easy given her semblance, but her mind had been elsewhere. When Ozpin had announced the method of determining partners – that is, the completely ridiculous, absolutely _asinine _method of determining partners – she had been taken off-guard. It was honestly a bit hard to believe at first, but denial soon gave way to a little bit of disappointment and a lot of irritation.

So far, Beacon was turning out to be annoying more than anything. If it wasn't for its other perks, she would have strongly considered transferring somewhere else.

"You better have been right about this, Grouse," she said softly as she pulled out her rapier and began walking.

She might have only known the man for a short time, but he had made quite an impact on her. He was cordial and respectful, yet at the same time very down-to-Remnant. He was jovial and nice, but when the time came for him to jump into action, he hadn't hesitated to do it, even when it demanded that he put himself into the line of fire to protect someone else.

It had cost him his life, and the lives of the rest of his team. When it came time for Weiss to start looking at where to go for school, she felt like she ought to at least honor his memory as well as what he had told her about herself and give Beacon a fair shot. Still, it had surprised her just how much Beacon ended up appealing to her.

For that, she was willing to stick it out a bit longer. After all, it wasn't like things could get any worse.

Now, all she needed was a suitable partner and team.

Initially, Weiss had been very picky about who she wanted on her team. In the days leading up to her departure for Beacon, she had put together a list detailing all the traits she would look for in the candidates to become her subordinates. It had taken many hours to put together, but in the end, she was quite satisfied with it.

Now, she was willing to discard it entirely so long as her team didn't consist of the amber-eyed girl or the wolf Faunus.

At the thought of them, Weiss let out an angry huff. Those two were some of the most infuriating people she had ever met. Even the blonde boy who tried – and failed – to flirt with her the day before was less insufferable than they were. She would gladly take a hundred of… what did he say his name was? Juane? Yeah, that sounded about right. She would gladly take a hundred of Juane over those two any day of the week.

The sound of rustling brush behind her caught the heiress' attention, causing her to turn around. If she was excited about the fact that it could have been a potential partner, she wasn't when the source of the noise revealed itself to be a Beowolf. The monster's gaze fell onto her and it bared its teeth before dropping down onto all fours.

Tensing, Weiss readied her rapier and prepared to cast a glyph. The Beowolf moved first, darting towards her. Unperturbed, the heiress stood her ground, daring it to get closer. It did, reaching her in moments, before jumping and lunging at her with outstretched arms.

With a sigh of annoyance, Weiss placed two glyphs beneath its arms, forcing them to the creature's side. With its arms pinned, it had no way to defend itself when Weiss backstepped to avoid its leap, then raised her sword and promptly skewered it through its left eye as its jump ended.

"Too easy," she said tiredly as she watched the corpse dissipate.

A series of low growls from behind her caused her to turn around. There meeting her were three more Beowolves, no doubt part of the last one's pack. Readying her weapon again, Weiss once more dropped into a combat stance.

It was only once she was already in position that a thought occurred to her.

_If this is the pack, then where's the Alpha?_

She got her answer in the form of something charging her from behind. Without even turning around to see what it was, the heiress quickly placed a glyph below her own feet, letting her leap out of the way before it was too late. As she fell, she placed another beneath her feet, stopping herself in midair to take stock of the situation.

Three Beowolves and one Alpha. They might have managed to take her by surprise, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She had certainly trained against worse. From her vantage point, it would be easy to slingshot herself towards the Alpha with a glyph, then take him out in one fell swoop. Once it was gone, the others would be easy prey.

She had fought an Arma Gigas to prove to her father that she was good enough to attend Beacon. As far as she was concerned, these four were nothing compared to that.

With a small smirk on her face, Weiss prepared to launch herself towards the Alpha.

Then, in one fell swoop, her plan and her confidence faded.

From above, a storm of black feathers came raining down. Weiss barely had time to register what was happening before they started to impact. Frantically, she tried to shield herself with a glyph, but she wasn't fast enough; before it could fully form, the feathers were already there. The sudden flurry knocked her off-balance, throwing her from her perch atop the glyph. In desperation, she tried forming another to stop her descent, but the feathers tore through whatever she tried to make before it could even take form.

She was falling, and the four Beowolves were right below her, circling like hungry predators. With her aura already taking a beating from the Nevermore's attack, this was suddenly a much more dangerous fight. Still, there was no turning back now.

Just before she hit the ground, Weiss angled her sword downwards. Rotating the chamber to Ice Dust, she held down the trigger. For her efforts, she was rewarded with a ramp, which she landed on feet-first and proceeded to almost skate down, aiming right for the Alpha Beowolf with her sword leading point-first.

Her strike was true, leaving the blade buried in the Grimm's chest before it had a chance to stop her. A glyph under her feet kept her momentum going, allowing her to easily wrench Myrtenaster from the monster and move out of range of the other three, leaving her on the other side of the clearing from them.

The stab unfortunately wasn't a kill move, but judging by how her victim was moving slower than the others when they all turned and began to pursue her, it was good enough to slow it down. For now, she would deal with the others.

A quick rotation of her weapon's cylinder followed by a pull of the trigger left the blade coated in Lightning Dust, just in time for the first of the three Beowolves to reach her. It lashed out with its claws, but Weiss simply deflected its strike with her semblance before stabbing it three times in the abdomen. Electricity arced across the Grimm's body, causing it to convulse in place while its brethren charged forward to fill its spot.

Launching herself backwards to get some breathing room, Weiss again spun her weapon's cylinder, this time stopping on Ice Dust. Stabbing her sword into the ground, a line of ice raced towards one of the Beowolves, culminating in a large icicle spike that speared the monster through its stomach. Still alive, the Grimm thrashed wildly in an attempt to free itself, but it wasn't going anywhere in its current state.

The final uninjured Grimm approached the heiress, followed closely by the one Weiss had electrocuted. She noted that the Alpha seemed to be hanging back, but decided that fact was unimportant in the face of the two that were charging towards her. This time, she wasn't planning to let them get close. Setting her weapon to Fire Dust, Weiss pointed her rapier at her enemies and held down the trigger. While it burned through an entire vial of Dust, the effects were well worth it; both of them were instantly incinerated.

A quick look around the clearing showed that it was just her, the Alpha, and the Beowolf that had been impaled. The latter's struggles were growing feebler with every passing second, indicating that it was close to death. The Alpha, meanwhile, was moving very lethargically, approaching her at about half the speed it had been when it had first attacked. Taking up a combat stance, Weiss prepared to finish it off and move on when a large shadow fell over her.

Looking up, she was met by the sight of the Nevermore coming back for another pass. It flapped its wings, again firing a barrage of feathers towards her. Switching to the rest of her Ice Dust, the heiress quickly formed a thick arch of ice above herself, which she reinforced with a glyph underneath to keep sturdy. The feathers impacted all around her, but none were able to penetrate the barrier she had put up. It was over after a few seconds, but unfortunately, that was all the time the Alpha needed to make its move.

Suddenly, the Beowolf seemed to completely shrug off its injuries, instead dropping to all fours and charging her at top speed. Weiss' eyes widened in surprise. She moved to intercept with another glpyh, but the Alpha was there before she had a chance to. It tackled into her, sending her sprawling, Myrtenaster slipping from her grasp.

The Beowolf, seeing her moment of weakness, was on her in an instant. It leaped on top of her, grabbing her by the neck with one hand and bringing its teeth and other claws down on her. Heart pounding, Weiss tried to repel it with a glyph, but the monster just increased the pressure on her throat, forcing her to redirect all her energy to keeping her aura reinforced in order to prevent her neck from being crushed. In desperation, she grasped blindly for Myrtenaster, but it was too far.

Then the Beowolf started to tear into her, raking over her with claws and teeth, each hit biting into her aura. Coupled with the pressure on her throat, as well as the fact that she had spent a large amount of aura in using her semblance already, and it wouldn't be long before she had none left. With death suddenly a very real possibility, and with no help in sight, Weiss couldn't stop help what happened next.

She screamed, praying that someone would hear her and come help.

Luckily for her, someone heard.

From the treeline there came an ear-splitting gunshot. The Alpha's head suddenly ceased to exist, showering the heiress with Grimm essence. The headless body slumped over, the grip on her throat slackening as the monster began to dissipate. Weiss wasted no time in crawling her way out from underneath the dead body, then grabbing her sword. Pushing the realization that she had nearly died out of her mind, she instead turned to face her savior, hoping that she had found her partner.

Blue eyes met green, and both girls froze in place.

* * *

Red was so cold. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying desperately to keep some heat trapped so she didn't freeze. Looking around, she found that she was no longer in the forest. Suddenly, she was back in Atlas, stuck in the middle of a highway during a blizzard. Her chest was soaked, and looking down, she found that she was covered in blood.

"Oh, it's you."

Her ears flicking in the direction of the voice, Red turned to face it, and instantly remembered who it belonged to. Weiss stood in front of her, an irritated look in her face. Before the wolf's eyes, she started to morph. In an instant, she was fifteen again. Her stern expression suddenly faded to one of sheer horror. Eyes that had once been filled with contempt were suddenly wide with fear and filled with terrified tears.

Immediately, Red averted her gaze. Did this make them partners? She hoped it didn't. Weiss didn't deserve to be on a team with a monster like her.

She had to get away. Maybe if they both split up now, there would still be time to find someone else. Her mind made up, Red turned away from Weiss and prepared to sprint off using her semblance, doing her best to ignore the heiress' scowl.

She paused when she heard the far-off rustling of feathers, followed immediately by the whistle of something falling from above. Eyes widening, Red wasted no time in turning around and running into Weiss, carrying her across the clearing.

She was just in time to avoid the storm of feathers that landed where both of them had just been standing.

"Hey!" Weiss cried out when they came to a stop. "What are you-"

Red whipped around to face her, and to her relief, everything fell back into place. Weiss was back to her normal age, and she was no longer freezing. A look down at herself showed that she wasn't covered in blood either. Looking back to Weiss, Red did her best to ignore the heiress' perplexed look and instead swallowed the lump in her throat.

"...Nevermore," she said softly. "Can't stay here..."

Weiss scoffed. "Yes, I'm aware. What do you plan to do about it? In case it's not clear, I have no interest in being your partner."

"I know," she replied. "Doesn't matter. Have to go."

"Why would I travel with-"

The whistling returned. As quickly as she could, Red picked up Weiss and slung her over her back, ignoring the heiress' indignant squawk and demands to be put down before she sped off using her semblance, looking for cover inside the forest.

After a minute of running, she finally stopped, confident that the Nevermore had been left behind. Weiss wasted no time in climbing off her back, landing on unstable legs. She looked very queasy. Turning towards Red, she affixed the younger girl with a harsh glare.

"You _dare_?" she hissed.

Red said nothing, instead looking down in shame, her ears flat against her head. Weiss huffed.

"Whatever. Let's just find this stupid temple. Then we can both grab our own relics and find someone else to partner up with. I'd tell you to leave me alone, but you seem intent on following me like we're connected at the hip."

In truth, Red wanted nothing more than to run off on her own. However, she knew that Weiss was likely very low on aura after the fight with the Beowolves, and she wasn't willing to leave the heiress alone, especially not with that Nevermore still flying around.

Weiss took off through the forest, and Red hesitantly followed.

* * *

Weiss did her best to repress her irritation as yet another gunshot split through the forest, followed moments later by the sound of a rifle's bolt being cycled. Her eye twitched as she stared at the headless Boarbatusk lying in front of her.

This girl was going to be the death of her.

Rounding on the wolf Faunus behind her, Weiss glared at her. "I can take care of myself just fine," she hissed. "I don't need you to kill everything that crosses my path."

The girl looked confused for a moment, but it quickly faded as she instead diverted her gaze down to the ground. "...Low aura," she muttered.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a heavy, irritable sigh in the process. "I don't know what you think you're accomplishing by following me along like a puppy to its master, but I don't care. I don't need or want your help. I can do this on my own."

"...Why?" the girl asked.

Again, Weiss glared at her. "None of your business, that's why! Honestly, none of what I say to you matters. We're going to get to the forest temple, then we're both going to grab relics of our own and pretend like we never saw each other. And then we never have to see each other again. Sound good?"

To Weiss' joy, the girl nodded slightly. She huffed, then turned back around and continued walking.

Her dislike for this Faunus girl was growing by the minute. Even if they hadn't had that encounter the day before, Weiss still wouldn't have liked her, and not just because of her heritage. She seemed intent on keeping Weiss from even getting into a fight with any Grimm, which was unacceptable. How was she supposed to prove to the professors that she was capable of handling herself in a fight and as the leader of a team if the only combat she saw during initiation was in a fight she had to be rescued from?

More importantly, how was she supposed to prove to her father that she was strong if she wasn't capable of handling initiation on her own? At this point, he seemed to just be looking for a reason to prevent her from taking over the company, stopped only by the fact that Whitley still didn't even compare to her, thanks to all the extra work she had put in over the last few years. She wasn't stupid enough to think this would last forever, though; all it took was one incident too many, and she would have the right to inherit the company stripped from her and passed on to him. She wasn't about to let that happen.

But given who she was traveling with, that was easier said than done.

Another annoyed huff escaped her. Casting a glance back at the girl, Weiss once again appraised her.

Just looking at the girl, it was a miracle she had even gotten into Beacon in the first place. Absolutely none of her weapons – yes, she had _three of them, _for some reason; somehow, Weiss doubted she was even proficient in any of the three given the fact that she looked at least a few months younger than herself – looked impressive in the slightest, with only the over-sized rifle in her hands appearing to have some kind of mecha-shift capability, even though Weiss was pretty sure it was only capable of collapsing since the Faunus had yet to ever change its form.

The only other weapon of hers that was worth an eyebrow raise was the pistol on her hip. Weiss didn't know a thing about guns, but the handgun the girl was carrying looked suspiciously similar to one that the Atlesian Specialists favored – Weiss recalled that Winter had been presented with a pistol just like it upon becoming a Specialist, which she had promptly thrown in a drawer at the Schnee mansion as soon as she was able to, preferring her sword instead.

Briefly, the thought that this girl had stolen her gun from a Specialist flashed through Weiss' head, though it was quickly pushed away when she realized how little sense that made. The odds of this girl stealing from a Specialist and getting away with it were about as small as the odds of her responding positively to Juane's flirting. It wasn't even worth considering the possibility.

And then there was her outfit, which was as ugly as it was ridiculous. Black pants, which seemed to contain some kind of padding over the legs and groin, as well as a dark red long-sleeved shirt. Over top of that, she wore some kind of gray vest, which seemed to have… steel plates over her front, back, and sides? Weiss frowned. Was she wearing bulletproof armor? Exactly what did she expect to be doing during initiation? What kind of person wore a bulletproof vest when they were fighting Grimm? It was mind-bogglingly stupid.

Over top of her vest, the girl was wearing some kind of ammo carrier, which was laden with spare ammunition for her guns, because apparently the spare ammo she was carrying on her belt and in the satchel at her side wasn't enough. Naturally, neither the ammo carrier nor the satchel matched what she was wearing; the carrier was a faded tan, and the satchel was dark brown.

Her choice of footwear was no better than anything else, consisting of black combat boots that were well worn and covered in scuffs.

Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, the whole getup was hidden underneath the ugliest black cloak Weiss had ever seen. It was faded in parts, and pockmarked with frayed edges and holes all throughout. It honestly looked like it had been fished out of a dump somewhere, probably the same place she got her boots.

Besides her weapons and outfit, the girl was just… weird. She was very quiet, with even her footfalls on the ground making close to no noise, and she almost never made eye contact with Weiss, even when the two of them were looking right at each other. It was understandable given their past encounter, not to mention their different heritages, but she seemed to take it up to eleven for no good reason. Had Weiss really scared her that much? If she had, then this girl truly had no business becoming a Huntress.

An Ursa suddenly lumbered out of the forest in front of them, causing Weiss' heart to skip a beat. She raised her sword and prepared to pull the trigger, only to be stopped by a deafening boom from directly next to her ear. Jumping in surprise at the sound of it, Weiss watched in dismay as the Ursa's head was completely pulverized. The Grimm fell over and began to dissipate. The heiress stared at it for a moment, her teeth grinding.

Alright, that did it.

"What's your problem?!" she asked, turning around and jabbing the wolf Faunus in the chest accusingly.

The girl blinked in surprise and pointed her weapon at the ground, but said nothing. Weiss' eyes narrowed.

"I told you I could handle myself, didn't I?! Why do you insist on stopping me from fighting? Do you think I'm incapable of looking out for myself? That just because you saved me from that Alpha, that I don't have what it takes to make it in Beacon?!"

The wolf looked down at the ground in shame, ears flattening against her head. "N-no..."

"Okay, then why?" Weiss put her hands on her hips, glaring at the girl the whole time. "I'll wait."

Red hesitated, unsure how to respond. Truthfully, she wasn't trying to irritate Weiss, she was just trying to protect her given that her aura was low. It wouldn't do to have her get in a fight with some other Grimm, have her aura be broken, and then have the Nevermore come around for another pass.

Of course, if she vocalized this, Weiss would likely just get mad at her again.

After a few seconds of silence, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess I shouldn't expect an answer, then. Apparently, you think you're too good for me. What's your problem? You've been nothing but a nuisance ever since yesterday. What, did you just decide that you were going to mess with me out of the blue? Do you just hate my family that much?" She huffed. "Why am I even asking that? Of _course _you do – all Faunus do."

The sound of ruffling feathers in the distance caused Red's ears to perk up and her eyes to widen. "Weiss-" she began.

"Oh, apparently you're not even going to let me speak my mind now," Weiss replied. "Well, that's too bad, because I certainly have a lot to say-"

"Weiss."

"-And I'm not about to let you-"

"Weiss!" Red suddenly shouted, her voice frantic. The heiress paused, not expecting her to speak so loudly, then glared at her.

"What?"

"We have to go!"

"And why is that?"

"Because-"

A loud screech cut them off. Both girls looked above them and saw the Nevermore circling above, gazing down on them with murder in its eyes. The two of them looked back to each other.

Red dashed forward and slung Weiss over her back again just as the Nevermore fired off its next volley of feathers, then once more took off running towards the forest. This time, Weiss didn't protest in the slightest.

Red had no illusions about the heiress' feelings towards her, however; she knew that the older girl was just holding her tongue, given that the Nevermore was now following directly behind them, just over top of the trees.

Running as fast as she could, the wolf Faunus sprinted through the trees, hoping desperately that she could put some space between the over-sized Grimm and the two of them. She was running out of time, though – using her semblance drained her aura, and while she normally had aura to spare, having to sprint while carrying another person on her back was very quickly proving to be more taxing than she thought it would. In addition, with an extra hundred-or-so pounds slung over her back, her top speed was much slower than it would normally have been. Coupled with the various twists and turns she had to take in order to navigate through the dense underbrush and trees, and it was only a matter of time before the Nevermore found them again.

She turned a corner, only for Weiss to frantically tap her in the shoulder.

"Hold up! I think there was something in that clearing back there – it might be the temple!"

Reluctantly, Red doubled back to look. To her immense relief, Weiss was right – it _was _the temple, along with what looked like several other people. Her heart soared. Maybe she could get a partner here? Hurriedly, she took off towards the temple, not even bothering to stop and let Weiss off her back.

Then an all-too-familiar blonde stepped out from behind the ruins, and she paused instantly.

"Oh, hey Red!" Yang called with a wave as the wolf stopped a few feet away from her. Seeing the younger girl's predicament, she grinned. "You've, uh, got something on your back there."

"How dare you!" Weiss said as she climbed off of Red's back and stood next to her, arms folded. "I am not a 'something'! I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company!"

"Easy there, Ice Queen," Yang said, her grin never fading. "Just a joke. No need to be so frosty with me." Her gaze flickered between the wolf and the heiress, who seemed to be getting more irritated by the second. "So, you two partners, or…?"

"No!" they both said at the same time.

"Really? Because you both look like you're-'

"We are _not _partners," Weiss said assuredly. "We just both happen to be traveling together."

"That sounds an awful lot like you're partners," Yang pointed out. "Did you make eye contact?"

"...Not that anyone knows of."

"That's a yes, then."

"My condolences, Red," Blake said as she stepped out to stand next to Yang, glaring at Weiss as she did so.

"You!" Weiss snarled, hand drifting to her sword.

"Whoa, there!" the blonde cried, stepping between them with her arms outstretched. "Easy! Whatever beef you two have, let's wait until after we're out of the forest of deadly Grimm, yeah? Back me up, Red."

Red had no intentions of doing so, given that it was currently taking all her willpower not to turn and run away from this spot. The only thing keeping her from doing so was the fact that she needed a relic.

"R-relic..." she muttered softly.

Yang turned to her. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Relic…?"

"Someone looking for relics? They're right back here!" came a voice from behind Yang. Red winced when she realized it was Nora. On cue, the orange-haired girl rounded the corner. "There's only one left! You should get it, then you can be on my-" She paused upon seeing that it was Red. "...Team," she added weakly.

Ren followed Nora out, the put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Nora. We'll find someone else."

"Wait, did she say there was only one relic left?" Weiss asked frantically, earning a nod from Ren.

"Uh, actually-" Yang tried to interject.

"I'm sorry, that's unacceptable," Weiss said, casting a glance back at Red. She turned to Ren and Nora. "I don't suppose you two know anyone who still needs a partner, do you?"

Nora tentatively pointed at Red. "...Isn't she-"

"No!"

"Guys," Yang said. "I kind of-"

"Well, this is great," Weiss said, before she turned to Red. "Any ideas? There's only one relic, and two of us."

"Seriously, you all should just listen to me, because-"

Before anyone could say anything else, screaming from the treeline interrupted them. To their surprise, someone came flying into the clearing, impacting against one of the pillars directly next to where the last remaining relic was standing. Hurriedly, they all rushed over to help.

"Jaune?!" Yang asked. "Where did you-"

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Jaune turned to them, fear etched across his face. "S-scorpion! We've got a really big scorpion!"

"Wha-"

Pyrrha burst from the treeline Jaune came out of, followed closely thereafter by an enormous Death Stalker. The Grimm stopped when it saw the eight Hunters in front of it, then let out a loud screech.

"Oh, come on. Eight of us, and one of him?" Yang said, smirking. "We've got this."

A large shadow suddenly passed overhead. Looking up, Red saw that it was the Nevermore from earlier. The over-sized bird flew until it was just above the Death Stalker, then stopped, hovering there and glaring at them.

Yang's smirk faded. "...I no longer think we've got this."

"Run!" Pyrrha shouted. "Jaune, grab the relic and go!"

Jaune didn't need to be told twice, quickly dropping the chess piece into his pocket before taking off in a mad sprint. Everybody else wasted no time in following after him, the Grimm hot on their heels.

Together, the eight of them tore through the forest, paying little attention to where they were going as long as it put some distance between them and the Grimm that were practically nipping at their heels. They ran for several minutes, nobody noticing as the ocean of trees began to steadily give way to stony mountains.

When they finally emerged on the other side of the forest, it was to their shock that they found themselves in a canyon, which was pockmarked with ancient ruins. To their horror, the only way forward was on a rickety rope bridge connecting to another part of the canyon.

"What now?!" Yang shouted.

A grim expression on her face, Red stepped forward and pulled out her knife and pistol, holding one in each hand. "Nothing left to do but fight."

"How?!" Weiss shouted.

"No choice but to divide and conquer. Four of us against the Death Stalker, and four of us against the Nevermore." Turning to Jaune, she said, "You and Pyrrha take two others and get the Death Stalker's attention. We'll handle the Nevermore."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Do you have a better plan, Weiss?" Red asked. The heiress was silent, causing the wolf to sigh. "Right, let's do this."

The Death Stalker and Nevermore finally emerged from the forest, causing the eight students to tense.

"You two, with us!" Jaune shouted to Ren and Nora. "Let's take care of that thing!"

On his cue, the three of them with ranged weapons opened up on the scorpion, drawing its attention. A bullet from Pyrrha managed to pop one of its eyes, causing it to let out an ear-piercing screech. Seeing their chance, the four of them took off running; to everyone's relief, the Death Stalker followed.

That left four of them to deal with the Nevermore. The Grimm made the first move, launching feathers towards them. All of them dealt with it in their own ways – Blake threw down a clone before evading, Red dodged using her semblance, Weiss deflected them with a glyph, and Yang simply tanked the hit with her aura, her eyes beginning to turn red as the barrage made impact.

"Any ideas?!" Weiss shouted to nobody in particular.

"Get it out of the air!" Red shouted. "Take out its wings!"

"How are we supposed to do that?!"

"Someone has to get on its back and target the wing joints!"

"How do you suggest we-"

Weiss was cut off by howling coming from the forest. Red felt her heart leap into her chest at the sound of it.

Their battle was drawing attention, it seemed.

Turning towards the others, Red shouted. "Across the bridge, now!"

Faced with a Grimm horde on top of the Nevermore, nobody needed to be told twice. They all immediately ran for the bridge. Briefly, Red's thoughts turned to Jaune and the others, but even her sensitive hearing couldn't pick up the sounds of their battle; if everything went well, they would fly under the horde's radar completely. For now, Red just had to assume that they would be safe.

Once they got closer to their destination, one thing became abundantly clear: the bridge was much too old to risk having more than one person cross it at a time. They were going to have to take turns.

Turning to Yang, Red motioned for her to go. The blonde looked reluctant, but a glare from the wolf made it clear that they didn't have time to argue. Reluctantly, the brawler took off across the bridge as fast as she could. To Red's relief, she made it across just fine.

Next came Weiss, who used her glyphs to give herself a bit of a speed boost in order to get across faster.

Finally, there was Blake. She took a step towards the bridge, but hesitated at the last second, turning back to Red.

"Are you sure you-"

"Just go!" the wolf shouted, giving her a push. Blake stumbled before beginning to sprint across the bridge.

She made it halfway across when the Nevermore circled back around. Red watched as the Grimm stopped, then stretched out its wings to fire off more feathers towards Blake. Dropping her weapons, the wolf tore her sniper rifle from its spot on her back and, in the same motion, fired off what was left in the magazine as fast as she could. All of the explosive Fire Dust rounds struck true, impacting against the Nevermore's head. Through the smoke, the feathers flew, but the explosions had knocked the Grimm's aim off; rather than hit Blake, the feathers mostly missed, but a few tore into the bridge, shredding it.

Red watched in horror as the bridge collapsed beneath Blake, causing her to fall. To her relief, the ravenette threw her weapon, embedding it in the rock just across from her and leaving her dangling there rather than plummeting to her death. Yang then reached down and grabbed the ribbon, pulling her to safety.

Seeing that, the wolf breathed a sigh of relief. The others were safe, at least for now.

And not a moment too soon, as the first of the incoming Grimm finally emerged from the forest. There were many of them, both in numbers and in species – Beowolves, Ursai, Boarbatusks… there had to be about two dozen of them. Normally, this would have been easy to deal with, but without her scythe and with low aura? Things were about to get very messy very quickly.

Hoping that the others could handle the Nevermore just fine, Red swapped magazines before taking aim at the incoming horde. Four shots rang out, followed by four dissipating corpses, but they were soon getting too close for comfort. Dropping her rifle in favor of picking her knife and pistol up off the ground, Red steeled herself before taking off directly into the throng of Grimm, being careful to show no fear.

This was going to hurt.

* * *

Across the bridge, the three girls were having problems of their own. The Nevermore had come back, and while it had left Red alone in favor of zeroing in on them, it was clear that they were outmatched. The Grimm was content to sit back and bombard them with feathers, apparently aware of the fact that none of them had anything with the kind of range that could match it.

Hunkered down behind some pieces of debris, the three of them were desperately bouncing ideas off of each other.

"Anyone have anything?" Yang asked.

"We're going to have to target the wings, like Red said," Blake pointed out. "Otherwise, that thing is just going to keep its distance."

"And how do we do that?"

Weiss bit her lip. Seeing Blake save herself from falling had given her an idea, but to say it was crazy was an understatement, one that was as much due to the fact that it required her and Blake to work together as it was for the actual content of the plan.

But with no other options, she had no choice.

"...I think I might have something," the heiress said reluctantly, causing them both to whip around to face her. Turning to Blake, she asked, "How sturdy is the ribbon on your weapon?"

Blake blinked, clearly not expecting for Weiss to talk to her without a snide comment attached. "Very. It's reinforced with Dust."

"How's its elasticity?"

"Well, it handled me when I was dangling a minute ago, then bounced back to its original form just fine."

"Could it handle, say, just over a hundred pounds of weight while at max tension without breaking? Maybe a bit more?"

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Where are you going with this, exactly?"

Again, Weiss bit her lip. "...None of us have the range necessary to take care of that thing. At least, not on our own. But if you and I combine your ribbon with my semblance, we might be able to launch someone onto its back, and they can get to work on the wing joints."

"And by someone, you mean me," Yang pointed out. "'Cuz from the sound of things, you two will be occupied getting this whole thing set up."

At that, the heiress hesitated. "...Yes, that's right," she admitted.

"That sounds as crazy as it does dangerous. Count me in."

"Don't tell me you're seriously considering this?!" Blake asked.

Yang shrugged. "Why not? It's not like anyone else has a better plan."

"What if we miss?!"

"You won't."

"Yang!"

"Oh, relax. It'll be fine." Ignoring Blake's disbelieving stare, Yang turned back to Weiss. "So, lay it on me. How do you want to do this?"

"I've still got some Fire Dust and some Wind Dust," Weiss pointed out. "We'll set up a makeshift slingshot, with Blake's ribbon stretched out and a big glyph behind it, which is where we'll put you. I can start a fire first, then use the Wind Dust to create a smokescreen so it can't see what we're doing."

"That'll just make it even harder to aim!" Blake pointed out.

"I can set glyphs along her path," Weiss insisted. "My aura's just about empty, but I can put enough down to keep her stabilized until she gets there. Of course, it's up to her to actually make sure she grabs onto the thing."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head," Yang said, waving her hand dismissively. "I had the best grip strength out of everyone in the Signal Academy weightlifting program. Holding onto tall, dark, and ugly over there won't be a problem. And once I've got a nice grip on it, I'll let loose on the nearest wing joint with my semblance."

"You're both insane," Blake said, shaking her head at just how ridiculous the plan was.

"There's no way we're actually doing this," she stated emphatically.

* * *

Red deftly avoided the Ursa's strike, circling behind it using her semblance and then jumping onto its back. She lashed out with her knife, stabbing it over and over again in the throat before going for a final strike through the eye, killing it. As the monster began to fall onto its side, Red fell with it, dropping into a roll as she hit the ground, then standing up a fraction of a second later, just in time to raise her pistol and put two rounds into a nearby Beowolf's head.

The Boarbatusk behind her seized its opportunity, spinning towards her in a razor-sharp ball of death. Unprepared, the wolf felt the Grimm hit her in the back, breaking what was left of her aura and sending her sprawling. She landed on her front, though she quickly rolled over and retaliated, emptying what remained in her gun's magazine towards the Grimm that had struck her. Five explosive rounds tore fist-sized chunks out of the monster's midsection and completely removed one of its legs. In a rage, it limped towards Red, intent on getting in another blow before its inevitable demise.

She ignored it in favor of rolling out of the way of the incoming Ursa Major. The giant bear was fast, much more than a creature of its size had any right to be, and managed to catch her in the chest with its swipe. Red grit her teeth; her plate carrier caught the attack, but the Grimm's claws had torn gouges in the cloth covering the bulletproof steel plate, and the impact was powerful enough for her to feel it in her ribs.

With her enhanced hearing, she was able to make out another Beowolf charging at her from behind. The horde may have been thinned dramatically, but the fight still wasn't over yet. Switching her knife to a reverse grip, Red turned and met the Beowolf mid-charge, the two of them trading blows – she caught a shallow slash across the stomach, and the Grimm received a much deeper one across the throat. Of the two of them, Red recovered first, and made quick work of the Beowolf with a stab through the roof of its mouth, directly into the top of the head.

She tried to wrench her knife free, but it was stuck for the time being, the edge of the blade poking out of the top of the Grimm's bone mask. The Ursa Major approached again, and she found herself forced to leave the blade behind, instead sprinting back towards where she had left her sniper rifle on the ground. Scooping it up, Red fired off four rounds at the Ursa Major, blowing both of its hind legs off at the knees. If the creature of darkness was in any pain, it refused to show it, instead dragging itself towards her with its front legs. The Faunus quickly swapped magazines in her pistol and put it out of its misery with a shot through each eye. Turning back towards the injured Boarbatusk, she repeated the feat, leaving her with only one last Grimm to take care of.

The final Grimm, the second of the Ursa Major pair, lumbered towards her. Red met its gaze, her own unflinching, and watched it for any signs of what it would do. Her grip on her pistol tightened as she waited for an opening. It came when, a moment later, the Ursa dropped down to all fours and rushed her. Red tensed, primed and ready to relax.

Her tension promptly disappeared when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a yellow blur shoot towards the Nevermore with a shout. Heart plummeting, she immediately stopped what she was doing in order to turn and see what had just happened.

"Yang!" she shouted in terrified disbelief, charging for her discarded rifle without a second thought.

She reached the gun just as the Ursa Major reached her.

* * *

"I can't believe we're actually doing this!"

Everything had been set up. The Fire Dust had been lit, and thanks to the rest of Weiss' Wind Dust, the entire area was covered in a cloud of smoke. Through it, they could vaguely see the Nevermore as it hovered above, searching for them. Just below it, where the smoke was the thickest, the makeshift slingshot was ready. It was stretched out as wide as it could go, with Blake holding one end of the ribbon and the other attached to her weapon, which had been embedded in the ground. Meanwhile, Weiss had drawn the center back as best as she could, and was now holding it in place.

And smack dab in the middle, the key to the whole operation sat.

"Remember the plan," Weiss said to her.

"I've got it, Weissy," Yang said. Even the threat of falling to her death couldn't put a damper on her spirits, it seemed.

Weiss' eye twitched at the nickname, but she held back on saying anything. Yang easily had the most dangerous job of the three of them; the least Weiss could do was let her indulge herself a bit.

For all they knew, it would be the last thing she got to do.

"I'll count us down backwards from three," Weiss said. "You both ready?"

"I was born ready," Yang said, popping her neck and rolling her shoulders as she did so. "Let's do this."

Blake, meanwhile, said nothing, though her apprehensive look told them both more than enough.

Weiss swallowed her fear. "Okay, then. Three."

Everybody tensed, dropping down into position even further. Blake's grip on the ribbon tightened, Weiss concentrated on the path leading to the Nevermore, and Yang brought her hands up in preparation of grabbing on to the target.

"Two."

With a motion of her hand, a line of glyphs sprang up directly in Yang's path, leading about halfway up to where the Nevermore was. The strain of simply keeping them all active was immense; Weiss could feel her aura draining more and more every second, and a headache coming on from the sheer focus necessary for the task.

The line of glowing white snowflakes finally caught the Nevermore's attention. The Grimm turned towards them, its eyes narrowing, and it brought its wings up in preparation for another barrage of feathers.

"One!"

They all moved. Blake held on tightly to her ribbon as Weiss commanded the rearmost glyph to _push_; the combination of their makeshift slingshot and Weiss' semblance sent Yang flying with a loud holler. In the blink of an eye, the brawler hit the first glpyh in her path, and then the second, and then she was off like a bullet. The incoming storm of feathers did nothing to kill her momentum as she soared through the air. Weiss and Blake watched with bated breath as she rocketed towards the Grimm, reaching it in the form of a yellow blur that hit it directly in the throat. The Grimm let out a choked screech when the blonde hit, reeling from the impact, its feathers missing both ground targets by a mile.

Frantically, Weiss looked around, trying to see where Yang ended up. With every passing second her horror continued to mount, until finally she spotted her.

She was on the front of the Nevermore's neck, holding on for dear life.

"Yes!" Weiss said, pumping her fist. "It worked!"

"Weiss," Blake said urgently, prompting her to take another look.

Any relief she felt began to die as she watched the Nevemore begin to ascend as high as it could go, the whole time trying to shake Yang off.

"Yang, hit the wings!" she shouted.

With how fast the Nevermore was going, there was no way that Yang had heard her. Both girls watched in horror as the Grimm flew higher and higher, threatening to become a black speck in the sky. Unable to do anything else, the two of them simply stood there and watched.

And then, there was relief.

From the other side of the canyon, there was a deafening gunshot. Seconds later, the Nevermore reeled as something detonated in its face, stalling its upwards momentum. That was all the time Yang needed to make her move; she scrambled over to one of the wing joints and began to pour everything she had into it. The Nevermore screeched in pain and anger as its joint was shredded, the wing itself seeming to come apart at the seam.

And then, suddenly, it was falling, its wing no longer capable of keeping it airborne. Again, the two girls on the ground held their breath, hoping desperately that Yang was capable of holding on. To their relief, she was; with both arms wrapped tightly around the oversized bird's neck, the brawler managed to maintain her grip. The two of them fell together, landing on the other side of the outcropping that Weiss and Blake were standing on, the Grimm arriving first and providing some cushioning for Yang. Both of them wasted no time in running over to it as fast as they could, desperately searching for some sign that she had made it.

The landing zone was blanketed by a thick layer of dust and dirt, not to mention the smoke from earlier. It was tough to make out anything at first, but after a moment, they were both able to discern the motionless form of the Grimm lying there in a crumpled heap.

But there was no sign of Yang.

Frantically, Weiss cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. "Yang!"

For a few seconds, there was no response. Then there was a cough.

"I'm good!" the blonde shouted back as she stepped out from behind the Nevermore. Her left arm was dangling limply at her side, bent at an odd angle. She took several steps towards them, limping the whole time and wincing whenever she put weight on her left leg. With gritted teeth, she asked, "Anyone catch the number of the airship that hit me?"

Weiss let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "How bad is it?"

"Arm's definitely broken. Leg feels like it is, too. Also have the worst headache of my life. Worst of all, my joke didn't get a single laugh from either of you. Tough crowd."

"You're lucky you're alive," Blake said, her tone much more relaxed, almost playful. It matched the small grin she had on her face. "That was absolutely crazy. We're never doing that again."

Yang chuckled lightly at that, wincing with every breath. "Ribs might be a bit messed up, too… Anyway, never say never, Blakey; after all, you never know when-"

Movement from behind her caused them all to freeze. Slowly, they all turned towards the source of it. Their eyes widened when they found the Nevermore beginning to stand up, dying but not quite dead. One of its wings was hanging by a thread, the other was frayed and falling apart. Its bone mask was cracked diagonally down the center, exposing the red interior underneath. Its right eye had burst during the impact, leaving an empty socket with a trail of red fluid leaking down its face. Wisps of smoke rose from a multitude of wounds all across its body; it clearly was not long for this world.

But until it finally keeled over, it was going to take as many of them with it as it could.

It looked around, red eye narrowing when it spotted them. Slowly, lethargically, it raised its only still-attached wing at them, the feathers on it bristling.

"We have to move!" Weiss shouted. Darting forward, she grabbed Yang's broken arm and slung it over her shoulder, eliciting a hiss of pain from the brawler. Blake took hold of the blonde's other arm, and together, the three of them moved as fast as they could, trying to put some distance between themselves and the Grimm.

The feathers came, and Weiss used the last of her aura throwing up a glyph to protect the three of them. It shattered after a few seconds, but it gave her all the time she needed to use what remained of the Ice Dust she had loaded in Myrtenaster to erect a dome-shaped barrier covering them.

"Keep Yang safe," she told Blake as she fumbled around in her jacket's inner pockets. With shaking hands, she drew out her one remaining vial of Ice Dust and loaded it in her sword's revolving chamber, then cocked back the hammer.

"What do we do?" Blake asked, softly.

Weiss suspected she already knew the answer, but gave it to her anyway. "...Nothing. Yang and I don't have any aura left, and there's no way you can fight it on your own and also keep it off of us. We're stuck here. Hopefully, my Dust reserves last longer than it takes for that thing to finally die. Because if they don't..."  
She trailed off, but nothing more needed to be said. For several seconds, nobody said anything further.

Then, Yang broke the silence.

"I trust you."

The heiress felt something well up inside her at the blonde's words. Since orientation, she had felt as though nobody would ever see her as anything more than an adversary, or as an obstacle to overcome. For even longer, she had dealt with her father telling her that she was worthless, that she would never amount to anything, that nobody would ever listen to what she had to say.

But now, hearing those three simple words, even from someone who was basically a complete stranger, Weiss felt at peace. It was small, but it was enough to give her hope that things would get better.

For the sake of that hope, and for the sake of everyone stuck in this dome with her, she would do this.

Taking a deep breath, Weiss took aim at the cracks beginning to form in the barrier from the Grimm's continued assault and, as carefully as she could, began sealing them, the whole time pleading that Yang's trust wasn't in vain.

* * *

As quickly as she could, Red pulled the belt around her upper arm as tight as it would go, then spit out the end she had in her mouth. While the blood continued to drip from her wound, it was nowhere near as severe as it had been moments ago. Her makeshift tourniquet wouldn't accomplish much more than slowing down her blood loss, but it would work until she could deal with her opponent once and for all.

The Ursa Major charged her once more, and she again sidestepped its swipe before retaliating with a slash of her own. The Ursa recovered quickly, the wound doing only superficial damage, and again lashed out at her, but Red was careful not to overextend herself. Instead, she focused primarily on dodging its attacks, occasionally probing with one of her own while she searched for an opening.

The fight had been going well until she had decided to intervene to save Yang. While the act of doing so had earned her a series of deep gashes on her upper right arm, she didn't regret it in the slightest. The Ursa could have taken her arm completely and she still wouldn't regret it. If it meant keeping Yang safe, Red would have gladly given herself up and called it a fair trade.

Of course, not regretting it didn't change the fact that temporarily losing her right arm was making things difficult. With no aura, no ability to use her scythe, and with only her left hand to work with, things were going poorly. Even worse, from the glimpses she had caught of the scene across the canyon, Yang was once more in danger. She had been tempted to jump headlong into her fight with the Ursa in order to speed things up, but with nobody left to assist Yang, Red was going to have to make sure that she was still able to do so on her own after her fight. Her only option was to be patient and wait for an opportunity.

Unfortunately, with the life of her sister on the line, this was easier said than done.

Avoiding another flurry of strikes from the Grimm, Red carefully analyzed what it was doing. It was an old Grimm, and very smart – there were no discernible patterns to its movements, and nothing she could use to predict what it might do next. It had even presented a few openings she had nearly taken advantage of, only for her to recognize at the last moment that they were feints.

But as smart as it was, it was only a matter of time before it made a mistake.

Again, Red held back as it launched into another series of attacks, trying its hardest to tear into her with its teeth and claws. Clutching her knife tightly in one hand, she waited, until finally, she saw it.

The Ursa swiped at her with one set of claws, but then, instead of fully recovering, it made the mistake of trying again with the other set first. Red seized her chance, leaping onto its back before it could attack her once more, then wrapping her weak arm around its neck to steady herself before stabbing it over and over again in the throat. The monster thrashed wildly, trying its hardest to shake her off, but it was no use. Red held firm, continuing to drive her blade into the creature as fast as she could. Once she had suitably eviscerated its throat, she turned to its eyes, stabbing both of them out before pushing her knife in through one of the empty eye sockets as hard as she could. Slowly, the knife went in deeper and deeper, and with every inch, the Grimm's struggles grew weaker. Finally, after a few seconds, it keeled over, dumping her off its back and onto the ground, where she rolled for a bit before coming to an unceremonious stop. Whipping back to face the Grimm, Red saw that it had already started to dissipate.

Footsteps from her left side caused her to turn, her grip on her weapon tightening once more, only for her to freeze when she saw that it was Jaune and the others, all of them looking no worse for wear than when they had started. They stared at her for a moment before their gazes drifted to her right arm, which had started to gush blood once more. With a huff of annoyance, Red reached up and tightened her tourniquet once more, stemming the flow of crimson briefly.

That snapped the four of them out of their stupor, as they quickly surrounded her, bombarding her with questions as to whether she was okay. Red felt her patience begin to wear thin, and it only got thinner when she looked back over towards where Yang was and saw her cowering beneath a dome of ice along with Weiss and Blake.

Immediately, Red tuned out the questions she was being asked in favor of looking around for something, _anything, _she could use. After a few seconds, her gaze settled on the belt of 40mm grenades looped around Nora's waist.

"I need your grenades," Red told her. "All of them, belt included." She motioned to the scene across the canyon for emphasis. The orange-haired girl's eyes widened before she nodded in understanding, unclasping the belt from around her waist and handing it over.

With the explosives in hand, Red turned back towards the group. "I need a way to get these to them."

"Let me," Pyrrha said, sheathing her weapons and pointing a hand at the grenades. The metal rounds were suddenly covered in a black aura, and as everyone began to watch, the entire belt began to levitate over towards the dome of ice.

"What do you need us to do?" Jaune asked.

"Shout at them as loud as you can. Let hem know that I need them to loop the belt around the Nevermore's neck."

With that, Red picked up her discarded sniper rifle, then checked the chamber. There were still Fire Dust rounds loaded, which meant that she wouldn't need to waste time reloading. Instead, she laid down, then pulled the weapon into her shoulder and took aim at the Nevermore. Behind her, she heard the other four shouting over towards the other side.

Taking a deep breath, she waited for her chance, hoping that Yang had heard.

* * *

A dull thunk against the dome caught Blake's attention. Were it not for her Faunus hearing, even muted beneath her bow as it was, she likely would have mistaken it for just another feather, but this sound was clearly different – heavier, and sounding vaguely of metal hitting something. Looking around, she saw what looked like a belt laden with grenade rounds lying nearby. Before she wonder what it was, another sound hit her ears, this one of people shouting. It was difficult to hear over the Nevermore, but she was just barely able to make it out.

When she did, she realized what she had to do.

"Yang, brace yourself," Blake warned. "Cover your ears. Tell Weiss to cover hers, too."

Yang turned to look at her in surprise. "Why? What are you doing?"

"Something crazy," Blake replied, drawing her sword and approaching the rear of the dome.

"Wait, Blake-"

Blake didn't hear the rest. Instead, she slashed at the barrier, cutting out a hole big enough for her to jump through. Vaguely, she was aware of Weiss and Yang shouting something at her, but whatever it was, it didn't matter. If she didn't do this, they were all as good as dead. And as much as she would have preferred Weiss be the one to do it, the heiress had no aura, and was the only thing keeping Yang safe.

Ignoring her pounding heart, Blake ran towards the belt of grenades, scooping them up in one hand before turning towards the Nevermore, then charging it at a full sprint. The Grimm seemed to be aware that she was coming and focused its attention on her, launching a barrage of feathers her way. Blake threw down as many clones as she could, uncaring of how many it took so long as it kept the Grimm's attention on her.

Several seconds and most of her aura later, and she had reached the Nevermore. The Grimm, unable to attack her with feathers when she was this close, instead opted to try and swallow her whole. Nimbly, Blake threw down another clone, then jumped up onto its beak before it had a chance to recover. The Nevermore flailed wildly, but Blake held firm with one hand, and with the other began to loop the belt around the bird's neck. Just when her grip was about to fail, Blake pulled the belt tight, then let go and began to run as fast as she could away from the Nevermore.

"Brace yourselves!" she shouted over to the other two as she ran past, diving for cover behind a rocky outcropping and covering her ears.

She had barely made it to safety when the whole world turned pink and her hearing failed her.

* * *

Red watched through her scope as Blake finished looping the grenades around the Nevermore's neck, then took off running. As soon as it was clear, Red settled her crosshair on the nearest grenade round, then fired.

The resulting explosion was massive. An enormous cloud of shrapnel, fire, and Dust erupted from where the Nevermore's neck had once been, a product of Red's explosive Fire Dust bullet and whatever chemical cocktail Nora had loaded her grenades with. Pink explosive residue flew through the air, spattering against not only the nearby rocks, but everything and everyone that happened to be standing too close. Wiping the pink from her face, Red looked around and saw that the others were all cheering, though she wasn't going to be hearing it any time soon – the explosion, massive as it was, had instantly deafened her thanks to her aura no longer guarding her sensitive ears.

Jaune turned to her, a big smile on his pink-covered face, and said something. She frowned, pointing to her ears.

"I can't hear anything right now," she said.

A look of horror crossed his face, and she quickly added, "It's only temporary." He, along with the other three, seemed to relax at that, and then quickly turned back to talking amongst themselves. Red let out a breath, then wiped off some more pink that had started to drip down into her eyes before looking through her scope.

To her relief, it seemed like everyone across the canyon was in no worse shape than when they had started. Having been so close to the epicenter of the explosion, they were all absolutely coated in pink from head to toe, a fact that none of them seemed particularly happy about – Blake was clearly very uncomfortable with her all-black color scheme having been given a fresh coat of pink, Weiss seemed to be angrily trying to wring it all out of her expensive-looking outfit to no avail, while Yang fiddled with her hair a bit before shrugging and giving up. Still, as irritated as they all looked, they were also clearly in high spirits, relieved at the fact that they were alive and well.

Looking over to where the Nevermore had once stood, Red saw that its entire upper half had simply ceased to exist, while its lower half was almost completely colored pink and disintegrating. It was definitely dead, no questions about it. Breathing a sigh of relief, Red folded up her rifle and stowed it on her back, then rolled into a sitting position and reached into her satchel. Feeling her fingers brush against a small box, she retrieved it and set it on the ground, then carefully tore open her shirt's right upper sleeve from the shoulder to just above her elbow.

Opening the box, Red pulled out a bottle along with a needle and thread and set to work. This was hardly the first time she had been injured, and it was far from the worst. Applying disinfectant and sewing herself up after a mission was almost routine at this point. The feeling of alcohol being splashed on her injuries didn't even earn a wince, nor did that of the needle biting into her flesh.

After several minutes, Red became aware of the fact that everyone else around her seemed to have frozen. Pausing for a moment, she turned to look at them, a perplexed expression on her face.

"What?" she asked.

For some reason, they were all staring at her, looking more than a little shocked and sickened. What they were so concerned about, she had no idea. Shrugging slightly, she turned back towards her injury and continued to sew herself up. Once she was done, she removed her makeshift tourniquet and reloaded her weapons, then sat back to keep watch over everyone else. Thankfully, trouble generally avoided them.

All of them sat there for several hours, either because they were unable to move or because they weren't willing to abandon the ones who were stuck. Thankfully, the Grimm mostly left them alone, with any strays that got too close being swiftly taken care of, either by Pyrrha or Nora. Steadily, Red's aura started to regenerate, and as it began to come back, so too did her hearing. It wasn't much for either – she doubted her aura would be able to stop even a pistol round, and anything she heard was drowned under a layer of tinnitus – but they were at least both there.

Eventually, the sun began to dip below the horizon, and none of them had been able to come up with a suitable way to get those stuck on the outcropping to safety. Blake's ribbon came up a few times, but it wasn't long enough to reach the distance required, and nobody was willing to try it with more than one person. Weiss' glyphs also came up, but her aura hadn't yet recovered enough for her to carry even herself across, let alone two others. With nothing else to do, they all stayed put, waiting for someone to come get them.

As it turned out, that someone was Ozpin and Glynda, who arrived in a Bullhead.

"Well, you eight have certainly caused a stir," the headmaster said as he stepped out of the Bullhead, his ever-present mug of cocoa in his hands. "I believe I said that anyone who required the assistance of a professor would be marked as having failed, but these are extenuating circumstances. Given that you all fought multiple elder Grimm while your classmates merely dealt with a few Ursai and Beowolves, I think it would be remiss of me not to make an exception."

He turned to his assistant. "Glynda, if you would please?"

The deputy headmistress nodded, then used her semblance to levitate herself over to where the missing three girls were. Picking them up, she then carried them all back to where the others were before setting them down, then moving to stand next to Ozpin.

"H-headmaster!" Weiss stammered out. "I know you said what would happen if you had to come get us, but-"

Ozpin held up a hand. "Do not worry, Miss Schnee. Given what you eight had to contend with, I will make an exception." He waited for her to breathe a sigh of relief before continuing. "Of course, I cannot do that until I have determined that you all completed the mission. If you would all present your relics to me, please?"

At that, Weiss and Red immediately paled. The two of them shared a glance as all the others presented the headmaster with their relics. For a moment, Red thought that Weiss would blame her for it, but to her surprise, the heiress didn't seem like she was. Instead, she just seemed downcast and defeated. Considering that Red felt the same way, she couldn't fault her for it. All that effort spent not only getting into Beacon, but also getting away from the White Fang had been worthless. She now had nowhere to go, and no way to protect herself from those who would pursue her.

It had all been for nothing.

Having collected all the other relics, Ozpin turned towards Weiss and Red, an eyebrow raised. "Your relic, please?"

Red swallowed nervously. How were they going to explain it to him? Would he even be willing to hear them out? He had made an exception for the others, but they had actually completed their mission, whereas she hadn't. What would he say to her when she told him she had failed? With a heavy sigh, Red opened her mouth to speak, knowing she was about to seal her fate.

Someone clearing her throat interrupted her, and caused them all to turn towards her. To her surprise, Red saw that it was Yang. The blonde was wearing a sheepish grin and was rubbing the back of her head with one hand, and in the other she was holding…

"Uh, you two dropped this earlier, when we were running from the temple," Yang said, opening her hand to reveal a white chess piece in the shape of a horse. "In all the excitement, I forgot to give it back. Sorry."

She even added a nervous, fake laugh to the end of her statement. Red had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Clearly, Yang had pocketed an extra relic with the intention of giving it to a pair of partners that she actually wanted to pass rather than two random people she didn't know. There was no rule saying she couldn't, but somehow Red doubted that Ozpin was going to look past the fact that her and Weiss technically hadn't collected their relic. In any case, there was no way Ozpin was going to buy such an obvious lie.

The headmaster stared at the chess piece before nodding and accepting it. "Yes, well, these things tend to happen from time to time. I suppose it can't be helped. Thank you, Miss Xiao Long."

Red stared, astonished, as he pocketed the chess piece and turned back to the Bullhead. A quick look over at Weiss revealed that she was equally as surprised. Recovering quickly, Weiss turned to Yang and gave her an appreciative nod, which Yang replied to with a wide grin of her own.

"Now then, I am supposed to take you all to the naming ceremony, but perhaps it would be best if we made a stop at the hospital wing first, so that Miss Canis and Miss Xiao Long can get their wounds looked at." He cast a glance back at them. "...And, for that matter, so all of you can shower and change. We will be taking team pictures during the naming ceremony tonight, and I doubt that any of you want to do so covered in pink explosive residue."

Red resisted the urge to report that she had already stitched herself up. If the headmaster wanted to offer a second opinion on her self-surgery, she wasn't about to say no, especially given that he had just done her a huge favor by accepting her into his school even though she had failed the mission she had been assigned… even if he didn't know the truth behind that yet.

Settling into her seat on the Bullhead, Red allowed herself to lean back, relax, and breathe a sigh of relief. Initiation had been rough, but hopefully things would improve. Across from her, Weiss sat down. The two of them exchanged a glance for a moment before the heiress' brow furrowed and she looked away. Red frowned.

Hopefully, Ozpin was as flexible regarding his rules for partnerships as he was his rules for the rest of initiation.

* * *

Red shuffled uncomfortably from her spot in the front row. She, along with the rest of the first years who had passed initiation, was currently waiting to be called up to the stage, where she would be assigned a team. From the looks of things, teams were made up of two different partnerships that had collected matching chess piece. Red knew which piece she and Weiss had gotten, that being the white knight, but she had no idea who the matching pair was.

She hoped that it wasn't Blake and Yang, even though she somehow knew that it would be.

Absentmindedly, she rubbed at her stitches. The medical team had given her a quick once-over before deciding to focus on Yang, who was much more injured than she was. Red hadn't complained about that; for one, it was a reassurance that she had done everything correctly the first time. For another, she wasn't going to protest about someone with a greater need for help being prioritized over her, especially when that someone was her sister.

Luckily, Yang's injuries weren't too bad, all things considered. One broken leg, one broken arm, a few cracked ribs, and a concussion were a small price to pay considering what she went through to get them. She was definitely resilient; a far cry from the sick, frail girl lying comatose and near death in a hospital bed ten years ago.

In the end, the head surgeon had patched her up, provided her with some painkillers for everything as well as some ice for her concussion and some casts for her broken limbs, along with some crutches for her to get around on until her aura fixed everything up in about a week. The blonde had protested about this, claiming that she couldn't lift weights if she was wearing casts, but the doctor had simply given her a harsh look and told her that if he or any of his staff caught her within a hundred feet of the weight room at any time in the next two weeks before he'd had a chance to confirm that she had healed correctly, that he would demand Professor Goodwitch keep her in after-school detention for the rest of the semester.

Red wasn't quite sure what that punishment entailed, but given how Yang seemed to pout at it, it wasn't a good one. Privately, the wolf made a promise to herself that if anyone even so much as considered using any kind of physical punishment on her sister, that no one would ever find their body.

"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark."

At the sound of the headmaster's voice, the four stood up from the row and marched over to the stage. One of them, the tall, orange-haired boy, roughly bumped into Red with his shoulder as he passed by her, knocking her out of her thoughts and causing her to stumble slightly. She stared at him as he walked past her, frowning as she did so, but ultimately thought nothing of it.

The four of them stood on the stage, each one beaming widely. A camera flashed in front of them.

"You four collected the black bishop pieces," Ozpin continued. "Together, you will form Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester."

A round of applause erupted from the crowd. The orange-haired boy took a few steps forward, giving the crowd a small wave as he did so, a smug grin on his face. After a few seconds in the spotlight, all four walked off the stage and back into the crowd.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren."

At the cue, the next group stepped forward. Despite her intention of keeping her distance from everybody else, Red couldn't help but feel somewhat happy for them. The four of them seemed to have worked well with the others when it came to defeating the Death Stalker, so it was good for them to have been put together. If nothing else, it would make for a very cohesive team.

"Your four collected the white rook pieces. Together, you will form Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Jaune's eyes widened as the camera flashed. He mouthed something in shock; whatever it was, it caused Pyrrha to playfully bump him with her shoulder. Apparently, he hadn't expected this, as he was easily knocked off-balance, landing on the floor. A roar of laughter went up in the crowd; Pyrrha's expression morphed to one of apologetic horror and she swiftly helped him to his feet, but he simply laughed and brushed her off.

Red stared at the two of them, confused. Something told her that wasn't how that exchange was supposed to go, but she knew better than to question it. Moments later, the newly-christened Team JNPR gave the crowd one final wave before stepping off the stage.

"Red Canis, Weiss Schnee, Blake Solandra, Yang Xiao Long."

Immediately, Red's eyes widened. She looked around in a panic, desperately hoping she hadn't heard what she knew she just had. Unfortunately, it wasn't a dream.

The other three girls filed past her, Yang in the lead. The blonde turned to Red and said something before motioning with her crutch, but the wolf didn't hear it. Swallowing nervously, the Faunus followed behind the others, her whole body steadily growing numb. Each step was laborious, taking almost everything she had. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she felt icy cold.

After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Red found herself on stage, standing next to Weiss. The heiress gave her a pointed glance out of the corner of her eye before smiling for the camera. Red didn't even bother to pretend smiling.

"You four collected the white knight pieces. Together, you will form Team RWBY, led by Red Canis."

Vaguely, Red was aware of someone expressing surprise next to her, though they were quickly drowned out by the noise the crowd was making. Even if there hadn't been a crowd, Red wouldn't have heard what they had to say, lost in her own head as she was.

None of this was right. She wasn't supposed to be partnered with Weiss, and she _definitely _wasn't supposed to be on a team with Yang. Beyond the risk of being exposed for who she truly was, neither of them had done anything to deserve being paired up with a monster like her. Weiss in particular didn't deserve it, considering what Red had put her through just a few years prior.

Numbly, she followed the other three off the stage, the whole time feeling dazed, her head swimming. The entire room was suddenly suffocating; a great weight had settled on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

She had to get away.

The first thing she did upon getting off the stage was slink off into the crowd, putting as far much distance between herself and her newly-formed team as she could in order to think things over.

Her first instinct was to leave. In all the excitement, it would be easy to sneak off to the locker room, gather her things, and run away. But as simple as it seemed, the truth was that it was anything but; she'd be forced to hide out in Vale until she could find a suitable spot to hide away, and even if she did that, what then? She still had something she needed to do, and it couldn't be done anywhere except Beacon. To run away now would be to turn her back on that objective.

Exhaling sharply, Red tried her best to calm her beating heart. Running away was out of the question, then. That meant her only option was to confront Ozpin and ask to be given a new partner and reassigned to a different team. She had planned to do this regardless once it became clear that Weiss was going to be her partner, but it was going to be much harder now, since she had just been named team leader. Moreover, from what she could remember, there was an even number of students and teams this year, meaning they would have to be shuffled around in order to make room for her somewhere. It was far from impossible, but the more she thought over the logistics of it, the less likely it seemed.

Still, she had no choice. She _had _to do this, not for her own sake, but for the sake of the three innocent girls who had been unfortunate enough to be assigned to the same team as her.

Swallowing her apprehension, Red looked to the stage and waited for the headmaster to dismiss them, the whole time desperately hoping that he would see things her way.

* * *

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. I would have expected you to be with your team right now, considering what you all went through."

"Actually, my team is why I'm here, Headmaster."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Do tell, Miss Schnee."

Weiss took a breath before sighing slightly. This was what had to happen; it was what was best for everyone.

"I want to be reassigned to a different team."

"Do you, now?" Ozpin asked, earning a nod. "Please, explain yourself."

"I just can't be on Team RWBY, that's all."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes. "Does this have to do with your team leader being a Faunus?"

"Unfortunately," came her dry response. "I'm sure you're aware of the situation my family is in."

"All too well, I'm afraid."

"Then surely you must see that it would be better for everyone if we were separated."

"Would it, Miss Schnee?"

Weiss looked up, surprised. "I'm sorry?"

He paused for a sip of cocoa. "I am not so foolish to believe that you wish to act as a Huntress for your entire life," he admitted. "You are next in line to inherit the Schnee Dust Company, after all. I do not hold this against you; rather, I find it admirable that you would seek to study as a Huntress in addition to shouldering this responsibility. However, for as long as you are at my school, it is my duty to impart you with knowledge befitting a Huntress. In this case, that includes the ability to work seamlessly with whoever you are paired up with in the field."

"I can't work with _her_!" Weiss protested.

"Quite the statement to make when you have only been partnered for the extent of initiation, and most of that was spent separated from each other," Ozpin pointed out. "I do not think you are giving your partnership enough credit. She was the one to come up with the initial idea for how to defeat the Nevermore, and you built upon it flawlessly. From what I could see, you worked rather well together, despite the fact that you two do not seem to get along."

Weiss paused. "...You were watching us the whole time?"

The headmaster chuckled. "Miss Schnee, Beacon's initiation consists of me flinging dozens of students into Grimm-infested woods. While I try to remain hands-off, it would be ridiculous of me not to provide at least a little oversight. The entire forest has been wired with cameras for many years now specifically for that purpose."

"...Then you saw that we didn't really grab a-"

Ozpin loudly cleared his throat, interrupting her. "Anyway, while the two of you may have had your differences, when it came to actually fighting together, you did so well enough. The same goes for you and Miss Solandra."

"Headmaster, I implore you to rethink this decision," Weiss pleaded.

At that, he frowned. "I am sorry, but my decision is final. I have provided a reason already – that being that it is important for you to learn to work alongside anybody you may find yourself paired up with on missions – but there are other reasons as well. For one, I would have to rearrange at least one other team, which would require breaking up another partnership. With the teams already decided, that would necessitate going through the naming process again, as well as adjusting Beacon's records and the housing for you and them, as well as your class schedule."

Her shoulders slumped. "So, you won't do it?"

"Sorry, but no." He took another sip of cocoa. "That being said, I think you are being short-sighted on this. You are hardly the first person to be unhappy with her team arrangement. I can think of at least one other team a few years back that was in a similar situation, and given that you and your partner did not nearly get both of you expelled during the naming ceremony, I can assure you that you are in a much better arrangement than them."

Again, Weiss paused. "...Did that really happen?"

He nodded. "Oh, yes. One of the team members decided that she wanted to be team leader and was unwilling to accept her partner being named to the position instead. One irritated Fire Dust-coated sword strike later, as well as a retaliatory Gravity Dust slash, and suddenly we needed to replace half the auditorium."

"What happened to them?"

"Would you believe me if I said that those four ended up becoming the best team of their generation?" At her disbelieving stare, he smirked. "I am telling the truth, you know. One of them still works for me, and the other keeps in contact despite retiring to work as a teacher and raise his daughter."

"And the others?"

His smile disappeared. "No longer around, unfortunately. But that's neither here nor there. Now, are there any other concerns?"

"...My Dust," the heiress replied. "She spilled a lot of my Dust yesterday."

Ozpin frowned. "An accident, I assume."

"Perhaps. My instincts say no, but-"

"Still, accident or not, I will see to it that you are compensated. I understand that you prefer high-quality Dust, and that it is hard to obtain, particularly with the Dust shortage in Vale right now. However, I will only do this once – from now on, you will either be purchasing your own Dust or using what Beacon provides."

"You're going to pay for her?" Weiss asked, surprised.

"You are unsure about whether or not it was an accident, and in any case, Miss Canis comes from an underprivileged background – there is no way she would be able to pay you back. I will gladly take the financial hit for now if it means helping you both move past this." He paused for a sip of cocoa once more. "Now, is there anything else?"  
Weiss hesitated. It felt wrong to ask given what his story had consisted of as well as his sudden generosity towards her, but at the same time, there was a question she had to know the answer to.

"Why did you make her the team leader instead of me?"

"Oh, that's it?"

"'That's it?'" Weiss echoed, more than a little irritated at his tone.

"I am sorry, but that was a much simpler question than I expected. My reply is simple: she was more suited to the job than you."

"What makes you say that?" she asked angrily.

"For one, she was the first to take charge when nobody else would. She jumped in to save you from the Beowolves and the Nevermore, she came up with the initial plan to defeat the Nevermore, and she willingly threw herself in harm's way to defend the rest of you."

"I was the one to come up with the in-depth plan to defeat it!" Weiss protested.

"True."

She faltered. "That's all?"

"Of course. Did you want a different answer?"

"I..." She hesitated once more, unsure how to respond. "...If you agree with me on that, then why-"

"Because leadership is more than planning, Miss Schnee," Ozpin pointed out. "Leadership is being able to take charge when nobody else will. It's knowing when to jump into the fray, and when to sit back and delegate orders. It's being willing to put yourself in harm's way to protect those serving under you. And perhaps most importantly to this conversation, it's being able to keep calm and composed even when under extreme amounts of stress… which, if the flow of this conversation has been any indicator, you have difficulties with."

Weiss stared at him in open-mouthed shock. She replayed the events of the conversation over her head before quietly shutting her mouth and looking away, her face steadily reddening.

"...Sorry," she said quietly.

"Apology accepted, Miss Schnee," Ozpin replied instantly. "If it is any indication, you are not the only one on your team with a problem such as that. I would go so far as to say that everyone has them, to a certain degree."

"Then why?"

"Besides that? Because, unlike you, Miss Canis' flaws would not jeopardize your team cohesiveness or performance to the same degree," Ozpin pointed out. "You have preexisting grievances with two other members of your team. If what I witnessed in the forest and during this conversation is any indication, these grievances would quickly come to a head if you were to serve as leader, and I am not sure that you are capable of handling them properly."

"But your story about the other team-"

"Is a testament to that leader's willingness to sit down and work with her team," Ozpin replied. "Make no mistake, she was as hotheaded as they come, but she was also incredibly empathetic and understanding. Once she had an inkling of the storied history the rest of her team had, her partner in particular, she did everything in her power to work with them rather than against them. That meant being willing to let go of her own grudges, but also remaining capable of being firm with them when she needed to be. It was a very delicate balancing act, one which I doubt anyone else would have been able to pull off, and she only persevered because she very quickly learned to ignore her temper in favor of empathy and rationality. Doing so was incredibly difficult for her, but in the end, she did it not only for herself, but for her team as well." Leaning forward, he placed both his hands on his desk and gazed at her from behind his glasses.

"Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you would be capable of doing the same, especially when one of your teammates is a Faunus?"

Weiss bit back a pointed retort, instead meeting his gaze. She held the stare for several seconds, but no matter how hard she tried to force herself to say it, she couldn't. Finally, she looked away, ashamed.

Ozpin sighed. "Make no mistake, I am not saying you are not capable of being a good leader. In fact, were it not for your temper and biases, I think you would make an excellent leader. However, as it stands, I do not think the role is a good fit for you now. While all four of you have still have a lot of maturing to do, you are currently the only one that runs the risk of your team actively rebelling against you if placed into such a position."

"...I understand," Weiss said softly.

"I am sorry, Miss Schnee," Ozpin said. "I can see that being named leader would have meant a lot to you. However, I simply cannot in all good faith allow you to serve as such at this time, not after watching you during initiation. In time, I think you would make an excellent leader, but I cannot afford to leave the rest of your team without someone suitable in the position for as long as it would take for you to settle into it."

Rising from his chair, he grabbed his mug and circled around his desk to stand next to her. "I hope this explanation made sense to you. I sincerely apologize if I came off as incredibly blunt or mean-spirited; such was not my intention. I merely felt that, given what I know about you already, you would respond better if I was more direct with you."

As much as Weiss didn't want to admit it, he wasn't wrong. And as harsh as he had been, he was still nothing compared to her father.

All the same, she still felt incredibly hollow inside. She was now stuck on a team where at least two of the members hated her, and where she wasn't going to be named leader any time soon, and both of them were her own fault to a certain degree.

The very thought of it all made her want to scream.

Ozpin checked his watch. "Now then, it is late. You have had a very long day, and classes start early tomorrow. Please, head back to your room and get to sleep. Your room number has been sent to your scroll, and your bags have already been moved there. If you need anything else, please contact me, and I will accommodate you to the best of my abilities. Goodnight, Miss Schnee."

Weiss simply nodded, then turned on her heel and walked into the elevator. Stepping into it, she hit the button for the ground floor and waited for the doors to close completely.

Only once the headmaster could no longer see her did she allow herself to slump dejectedly against the wall.

Nothing had gone right so far. She had succeeded in making two enemies, and had been placed on a team with both and in a partnership with one. She wasn't team leader, and so far, nobody seemed impressed with her performance.

Even worse, as soon as classes ended the next day, she was going to have to let her father know about all of it.

And the mere thought of that made her feel more tired than fighting the Nevermore ever could have.

* * *

As he watched the elevator doors close on the Schnee heiress, Ozpin let out a small sigh.

And he had thought dealing with Miss Canis had been hard. He hadn't expected Miss Schnee to come in just a few minutes after; he had barely had time to top off his cocoa before she had stepped in and requested an audience with him. Still, if nothing else, their methods of requesting a team change had been interesting, Red's in particular.

He had fielded many of them through his years as headmaster, but listening to her had been the very first time he had ever heard someone request they be moved to a different team specifically because it would have been better for their partner rather than themselves. Of course, Red likely thought she would benefit as well if the team was altered, but that just raised the question of why she had very carefully emphasized that it was for Weiss' sake rather than her own. Perhaps to try and make it seem like she was being less selfish? In any case, her request had been denied, as had her request that someone else be named team leader rather than her.

All the same, Ozpin set his mug down, pulled out his scroll, and made a note for himself to keep an eye on Team RWBY, as well as some ideas for what to bring up during his first one-on-one session with Red on Friday. Out of everyone on the team, he could tell that she was going to need the most help fitting in. But even then, he could only do so much, given that he was her instructor rather than her teammate.

Like he had said in his speech the day before, it would be up to her to take the first step.

* * *

**...Okay, so I know I said I was going to try and make the word count a bit more manageable, but I just couldn't do it. I tried, but it wasn't happening.  
**

**In all seriousness, I apologize for this chapter's length. Stuff just kept piling on and on until I left you all with this mess. I considered splitting it up, but I really just wanted initiation to be done with already so I can get into school-related shenanigans. **

**Also, because I know that at least one person will bring this up and it deserves an answer now rather than then: Yes, I changed Blake's last name. No, it is not her real last name. I did this because if her goal is to remain incognito at Beacon, then using her real name is a pretty poor way to go about it. Plus, having been in the White Fang when Ghira was still in charge, Red would instantly connect the dots with Blake's name and physical description plus her outspokenness towards Faunus rights and hatred of the Schnee family, then realize that her bow looks suspiciously like kitty ears, and then suddenly the entirety of V1 is going in a completely different direction than where I want it to go. While I'm making it a point to absolutely screw with canon as best as I can, writing it like that would take it too far away from what I want to do with this stage of the story, so instead I'm changing her name and making her disguise a bit less paper-thin. **

**Aside from that, I will not be awarding any points for people who correctly guess which team Ozpin was talking about, because I made it about as obvious as I possibly could without directly stating who it was. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one team in the entirety of the canon RWBYverse that could ever reach that level of dysfunction, and it's the one that had Mother-Of-The-Year-All-Years on it. Not that I'm going to let that stop me from trying to outdo said dysfunction, of course; I still have to make this story at least somewhat interesting, after all.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we'll explore what happens when a girl who has never seen the inside of a classroom before in her whole life is forced to sit through one of Port's lectures. **

**Oh, and we'll also get a bit more action in the form of a fight that I'm sure at least a few of you have been wondering about the outcome of, if it were to happen. It's one I've wanted to do for a while, though I will give a bit of a warning and say that it probably won't go the way you expect – there will be no ROFLstomp, at least not yet. Obviously one of the combatants will be Red, and while I won't reveal who the other one is just yet, you can probably guess – they've already appeared in the story, after all.**

**In other news, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Consumerist holiday it may be, but it's still a happy time for those of us out there with a significant other. Personally, I spent mine going to the gym, gaming with friends, writing, and cleaning my FN FAL, which is pretty much my one true love in this world. All in all, not too bad of a day. I hope all of you had a fantastic one as well.**

**Next update: Saturday, February 29th. **


	8. Chapter 8

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 8

* * *

The early morning stillness was broken by a sharp intake of breath and the soft creaking of a bed as she catapulted awake. With wide, fear-filled eyes, she looked around the room, one hand pulling her knife from its sheath as she searched for an unseen threat. After a few seconds, Red finally realized that the room was clear. Taking several deep breaths to calm her pounding heart, she returned her knife to its sheath and allowed herself to relax before pulling her scroll out of her pocket.

_4:17 AM._

Red blinked, then rubbed her eyes. Her sleep schedule had been poor for a long time, with the exception of a small improvement when she had first left the White Fang, and now it seemed to be getting even worse.

And she didn't exactly have to wonder why that was.

A loud snore caught her attention, causing her to glance over to the center from her position on the far left side of the room. The arrangement was an obvious one, in retrospect; her on the end, with Blake between her and Yang, and Weiss on the other end. Anything else wouldn't have worked for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Weiss still hated her.

With her enhanced eyesight, Red was easily able to see despite the dark. Her gaze settled on Yang, softening when it did. The blonde seemed to be sleeping peacefully despite her disorganized position, with half her limbs splayed out all across the bed – her broken arm and leg were still locked in place thanks to her casts – and half her covers spilling onto the floor. Every now and again, a snore would escape her.

Seeing that, Red breathed a sigh of relief. Yang, at least, seemed to have moved on from her disappearance well enough. If nothing else, it wasn't keeping her up at night. This was good; knowing that Yang missed her would have made hiding her identity that much harder.

A whimper from behind the blonde caught Red's attention, and she whipped around to see what it was. Focusing, she could see that it was Weiss, and unlike Yang, she seemed to be having a nightmare. Her whole body was tense, her face screwed up into a fearful expression. She was shaking slightly, and was covered with a thin layer of sweat. Red stared for a few seconds, then looked away.

She had a pretty good idea what Weiss was dreaming about, and it left her feeling hollow and guilty.

Suddenly feeling constricted, Red decided to leave the room. She wasn't getting any more sleep anyway, so she decided she might as well go somewhere else. Throwing her covers off, she patted herself down to make sure her knife was in place. While Glynda had forced her to change out of her ruined shirt and to put her bigger weapons away in storage, Red had steadfastly refused to relinquish her knife, silently reasoning to herself that she wasn't going to let herself be completely disarmed so long as the White Fang and Almost were still around. She had even slept with it clipped to her shoulder, though that was less to do with her paranoia and more to do with her simply wanting to curl up and go to sleep after having her request to change teams denied by Ozpin.

With a sigh, Red pushed those thoughts out of her head, then stepped over to the door and quietly opened it, moving out into the hall. It was too early for her to get breakfast, but maybe the gym was open. Red looked around to make sure nobody was watching, then pulled down her shirt's neckline to take a look at her stitches. Flexing her arm, she was able to see that they were holding just fine, and that her aura had done its job and already started to heal the wound. Still, doing any kind of upper body exercise was probably going to be too much until she was fully healed. That left either leg exercises, core exercises, or cardio.

Given everything that had happened recently, she was leaning towards the former; in her experience, nothing helped push the bad thoughts out of her head more than lifting weights. Almost had definitely not intended for it to be relaxing when he had assigned her a weightlifting routine as part of her training a few years back, but it was hard for her to see it any other way; she had continued with her training even after learning the truth behind Sienna and Almost, and that had included lifting weights. In addition to simply making her stronger, it was also an opportunity for her to get away from Sienna for a little while and help her focus on something else besides her own guilt and remorse.

Hopefully, it still had the same effect on her here.

* * *

It was the soft crooning of a silky-smooth voice that awoke her. Lilac eyes cracked open, staring up at the ceiling. With a small yawn, Yang went to rub the sleep from her eyes with her left hand, only for it to refuse to move. Confused, Yang glanced towards it, only to be reminded of the previous day's events when she saw it immobilized in a thick cast. Grumbling, the blonde rubbed her eyes with her right hand instead, then turned to her left to see if the bathroom was available.

Instead, her gaze settled on her white-haired teammate, who had similarly been roused from her slumber by the sound. Lethargically reaching over to the nearby desk, Weiss tapped the front of her scroll, which turned off the song – Yang finally recognized it as one of the heiress' own songs, because of course it was – then sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

For just a moment, it looked like she was rubbing more than just sleep away from her eyes, but Yang played it off as a trick of the light. In any case, Weiss looked terrible; she was extremely disheveled, she was coated in a thin layer of sweat, and she had bags under her eyes. Seeing it, Yang frowned.

"Sleep okay?" she asked.

"Well enough," Weiss replied. It was clearly a lie, but Yang wasn't about to call her out on it. The heiress cast a glance behind Yang, over at the other two beds. "Is the bathroom free?"

As if on cue, the bathroom door swung open. Blake stepped out, already wearing the Beacon uniform and ready for her day. She strode past the two of them towards her bed, exchanging a pointed glance with Weiss as she did, then sat down and reached for her book.

Yang blinked. "Early riser?"

Blake gave a small grunt of response, but otherwise didn't respond, instead simply continuing to read.

Yang sighed, annoyed. "Know where Red is?"

"Gone when I woke up," Blake replied curtly. Inwardly, Yang was thankful to have gotten a full sentence out of her; after initiation, the ravenette had seemed to want nothing to do with anyone for some reason, her own partner included. "No idea where."

Weiss stretched her arms over her head, then stood up, rolling her shoulders a bit as she did so. "I'm going to get ready. You didn't use all the hot water, did you?"  
Blake sent a glare her way from behind her book. "What's the matter, Schnee? Can't handle a cold shower?"

At that, Weiss bristled. "It was just an honest question. And my name is Weiss; I would prefer if you called me that rather than use my last name like a slur."

"First time I've ever heard a Schnee complain about a slur rather than use one."

"Girls!" Yang cut in, interrupting them before their argument could continue. Pushing herself into a seated position with her good hand, she leaned against her headboard and sent each one a pointed look. "Could we maybe not do this after we've all just woken up?"

"Speak for yourself," Blake replied. "I've been up for an hour getting ready. And no, I didn't spend the whole time in the shower, despite what someone here seems to think."

"Forgive me for wanting to know the answer to a simple question," Weiss fired back.

Before the argument could continue, the door swung open. Red looked into the room, blinking in surprise to see everyone else looking at her. She shrunk slightly under their gaze, directing her attention down to the floor as she shuffled in and shut the door behind her.

"Morning, Red," Yang greeted.

Red mumbled something in response, but it was far too quiet for her to make out what it was.

Next to her, Weiss scrunched her face up in disgust. "Did you just come back from the gym?" The wolf Faunus hesitated before nodding slightly, causing Weiss to pinch the bridge of her nose before pointing to the bathroom. "Go take a shower, you smell like a locker room."

She wasn't wrong; Red, indeed, stank like a locker room, the scent of body odor mixing with that of the stale sweat clinging to her clothes. Nodding awkwardly, the wolf took a few steps towards the bathroom, her legs shaking the whole time. Yang's eyes widened in surprise when she realized what Red had been doing.

"Hold up," the blonde said, causing Red to pause. "Were you lifting weights?"

That earned a small, tentative nod.

"Were you doing legs? Like, squats and deadlifts and stuff?"

Another nod.

A wide grin split Yang's face. "No fooling? What's your routine look like? We should both get together and lift sometime, maybe invite Pyrrha and Nora along for the ride."

"N-no!" Red suddenly exclaimed.

Yang blinked, then stared at her in surprise, her grin having faded. "No?"

The wolf shrank even more. "...I like working out on my own," she said softly. "N-nothing personal or anything..."

"Oh," Yang replied. She shrugged. "Okay, then. If you ever change your mind, come find me. I'd be happy to lift with you."

She tried not to make it sound like Red's response had bothered her. In truth, she had wanted her team to be friendly to each other, but so far it seemed like they were all resistant to it, if not outright hostile to it. Then again, perhaps it was understandable. It hadn't even been one day yet; obviously there would be some growing pains. The thought made her relax slightly.

Red shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "...Can I go now?"

Again, Yang blinked. "Uh, sure. Go right ahead."

The wolf didn't need to be told twice. She immediately turned away from Yang and took several steps towards the bathroom.

And then just as quickly paused and turned back to face them, an uncertain look on her face.

"...Where did they put my clothes?"

"Closet," Blake said without looking up from her book. "Your uniforms are the small ones on the left."

"...Uniform?"

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Blake and Yang exchanged a confused look between each other before glancing back to her.

"Yeah, we have to wear uniforms to every class except Combat Class," Yang replied. "Did you not know?"

Red shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Yang saw Weiss pinch the bridge of her nose with a groan.

"Unbelievable..." the heiress muttered.

The wolf ignored her, instead hesitantly stepping past her to get to the closet. Weiss let out a huff when Red passed her and held her breath to avoid having to smell her, but otherwise didn't react. The wolf threw open the closet doors, then looked over to the left. With no small amount of uncertainty, she took one of the outfits off the rack it was situated on and stared at it, unsure what to make of it.

"What is this?" she asked, gently poking at the skirt.

That seemed to be the limit of Weiss' tolerance level. "It's a skirt, you absolute dunce!"

"...Skirt?"

Weiss' eye twitched. Blake and Yang exchanged another confused glance.

"Do you not know what that is?" Yang asked tentatively.

Red slowly shook her head. "No… I've always just worn whatever I could find. I've never had nice clothes like this before."

"How?!" Weiss asked. "It's literally one of the most common articles of clothing for girls to wear! How can you not even know what it is?!"

Blake looked up from behind her book, glaring over at the heiress. "Leave her alone, Schnee."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that it would be wrong of me to expect my team leader to possess basic knowledge that everyone else already has!"

Again, Red shifted uncomfortably, her ears flat against her head. "...Can I go get ready? I want to get breakfast..."

Weiss opened her mouth to speak, but Yang cut her off with a wave of her hand and a pointed look before turning back to her team leader. "Yeah, go ahead." Casting a glance over towards the closet, she added, "You might want to grab some of those black nylon leggings, too – since you've never worn a skirt before, they might make it a bit more comfortable for you."

Red nodded gratefully, then gathered everything she would need to get ready and retreated into the bathroom. Yang waited until she heard the shower start up before turning to her other two teammates, glaring at each of them.

"You two need to figure things out," she said in a low voice. "I'm not going through four years of school on a team where everyone hates each other."

Weiss scoffed. "'You two,' is it? Spare me. Blake and Red are the problems here, not me."

"You and Blake are _both _problems here," Yang said, interrupting before Blake could respond to Weiss' barb with one of her own. The ravenette sent her an irritated look, but Yang ignored it. "So far, you've both been nothing but nasty to each other." Turning to Weiss, she added, "And _you've _been a huge bitch to Red for no reason since the start."

"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?" Weiss asked threateningly.

"I called you a bitch, because you're acting like one," Yang replied without missing a beat. "If you've got a problem with that, then put up or shut up."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you can either rein it in and treat Red nicely, or I'll be dragging you into the ring over it once I'm fixed up, because I _don't _appreciate someone being racist towards Faunus."

Blake blinked, surprised. "You actually care about-"

"Yes, Blake, as a matter of fact, I do," Yang replied without looking. "My sister is a Faunus, and so was my mom when she was still alive."

"Adoption?"

"Half-sisters with the same dad, but that's not important right now."

Weiss huffed angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. "I guess it figures, then. Of course I get stuck on a team like this, where everyone hates me by default."

"The only hatred you're getting is because of things you've personally said and done," Yang pointed out.

"I've been nothing but reasonable so far," Weiss replied irritably. "The Faunus have been targeting my family for decades, and I'm not about to let my guard down around one just because she happens to be on my team. At the same time, if she's going to be team leader instead of me, I expect her to be capable of filling the role, and so far she leaves much to be desired. And as for the two of you, you're both clearly against me given your allegiances towards the people targeting me."

"It's called being a decent human being," the blonde said, no small amount of anger leaking into her voice. "Red isn't 'The Faunus,' as you called them. She's Red Canis, and she deserves a chance to prove that to you."

"And I'm not 'The Schnee,'" Weiss countered. "But apparently, neither of you think I deserve a chance like she does."

"Because you're doing a pretty good job of proving that you actually are just 'The Schnee,'" Blake said.

"Enough!" Yang shouted, her eyes turning red and her hair igniting. Both girls paused and turned to look at her as the temperature in the room suddenly spiked. She met both of them with a harsh look. "It's day one, classes haven't even started yet, and I'm already beyond done with this."

"You know what? So am I," Weiss replied. Calmly standing up, she moved over to the closet and retrieved a small bag of toiletries, along with her school uniform. "I'm going to get ready in the gym locker room, not that anyone cares. Don't wait up for me when you decide to go to class; I'll already be there, and I'm not interested in being near any of you."

With that, the heiress left, slamming the door behind her. Yang sighed angrily before looking over at Blake. The ravenette met her gaze, frowned, then put her book down.

"Breakfast," she said simply.

She was gone before Yang could say anything to the contrary. The blonde watched her go, then let out an irritated sigh before taking a deep breath, deactivating her semblance.

If today was any indication, it was going to be a rough four years.

* * *

Filing into the classroom, the first thing Red was struck by was how spacious it seemed. To her, 'classroom' was synonymous with being hunched over a table in Sienna's tent, with only the light of a torch or two illuminating everything. Now, faced with a large, open room, she wasn't sure what to think. Even the desks themselves were impressive, if for no other reason other than how many there were.

Although, the fact that they seemed to be reinforced with solid steel on the inside was certainly worth a raise of the eyebrows. Were they expected to actually fight Grimm in this class? If so, maybe it was a bit closer to the way she used to do things than she initially thought.

"Welcome, welcome!" announced a very large man in the center of the room, who Red presumed was the instructor. "Please, take your seats so we can get started! If you aren't already, please sit alongside your teammates!"

Red frowned, having already chosen a seat far away from everyone else. Reluctantly, she picked her things up and moved over to where Weiss was already seated, putting everything down three seats away from her. The heiress gave her a nasty look and a scoff, but said nothing. The wolf didn't react; she would take Weiss hating her for seemingly no reason over Weiss hating her for the reason she actually should have.

Blake entered a minute later. She took one look around and saw that teams were sitting next to each other, scowling as she did so. Locating Red and Weiss, she promptly took a seat directly next to her team leader before pulling out two books, one a textbook and the other decidedly not, placing the latter inside of the former to hide it, then began reading. Again, Weiss scoffed, but said nothing, instead pulling out some paper and a pen.

Red, meanwhile, was very confused. For the life of her, she couldn't come up with a reason as to why Blake had a physical textbook when all their study material was already on their scrolls in digital form. Just as well, she wasn't sure why Weiss had a paper and pen out. It was just Grimm Studies, wasn't it? To her, that meant a discussion on how best to kill a certain type of Grimm followed by a trip into the wilderness to put it into practice… or, given the reinforced desks, perhaps the instructor would set one loose in the classroom or something.

Why was this even a class that spanned an entire year? If they were just learning how to kill Grimm – and why would they need to know anything else about them? – then it could be accomplished in a matter of weeks at most. Spending any more time on it seemed unnecessary.

A series of rhythmic clicks sounded from outside the classroom, signaling Yang's arrival. The blonde limped into the room leaning on her crutch for support, then slowly moved over to where the rest of her team was sitting. Settling in between Weiss and Blake, she set her crutch against the desk before stretching her arm out.

And then, to Red's utter amazement, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a pair of sunglasses, set them over her eyes, then leaned back in her seat and did her best to fall asleep.

"What are you doing?!" Weiss hissed under her breath.

Yang cracked one eye open to look at her. "Catching up on some beauty sleep."

"Have you lost your mind?!"

"According to some of the recent graduates I've talked to on Patch, this guy's a blowhard. He's going to spend the entire class telling stories of himself and reviewing basic stuff everybody already knows. We're not going to learn anything in this class, so rather than waste my time, I'm going to sleep in a bit."

"And if he catches you?"

"He won't."

"You're wearing sunglasses indoors and you snore!"

"Okay, first off: I don't snore. Second off: if he asks about the glasses, tell him that I have a sensitivity to artificial light and need them so I don't get a migraine. And if he still catches me… I don't know, just tell him I have narcolepsy or something. I don't really care so long as it keeps me out of detention."

"If you want to stay out of detention, then don't go to sleep!"

"Too late."

And just like that, Yang closed her eyes and almost immediately began softly snoring. Weiss growled under her breath and muttered something about being surrounded by idiots, then expressed relief that they weren't being graded as one team like in Atlas, but otherwise didn't react.

Red, meanwhile, was incredibly confused. Was this how classes normally went? It was actually somewhat fascinating.

Completely wasteful, ineffectual, and dangerous with regards to how they were apparently going to be taught nothing of substance about their number one enemy, but fascinating nonetheless. Hopefully the other classes were better than this one.

Over the next few minutes, nothing interesting happened. A team of four very loud and rambunctious boys sat a few rows behind them, and Team JNPR came in a few seconds before the bell rang, but other than that, not much occurred. Red was just about to ask aloud when class was going to get started when the instructor cleared his throat.

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! The creatures of Grimm go by many different names and titles, but I simply refer to them as prey! And in time, so too will all of you!"  
He clasped his hands behind his back, then gazed out across the assembled class. "I am Professor Peter Port! Some of you may recognize me from my autobiography, _Unbreakable: The Story of Peter Port, __Elite Huntsman and Recipient of the __Medal of Valor, First Class! _If you don't, then worry not, as it will be required reading later on!"

He unclasped his hands and cleared his throat. "Now then, allow me to explain what we will accomplish in this class. Here, you will receive an introductory course in how to deal with the creatures of Grimm. We will cover things such as the basic tactics employed by Elder Grimm, the common weak points on the basic kinds of Grimm, and where you can expect to encounter certain species of Grimm. But before we can get to any of that, a story."

Again, perhaps unnecessarily, he cleared his throat. "It was many years ago, before any of you had even been born. Far off in the wilds of Sanus, a village cries for help, besieged by an Elder Boarbatusk that would break through their defenses and pick people off en masse. Incapable of defeating it on their own, they approached the Vale Council for assistance, who in turn reached out to Beacon Academy. Beacon, seeing the danger posed by this Boarbatusk, decided that the best course of action was to send a Huntsman to deal with it. But not just any Huntsman, oh no! No, this Huntsman had to embody everything that a Huntsman stood for! He had to be strong, brave, fearless, and perhaps most importantly of all, handsome! There was only one person capable of meeting this threat head-on who fit all of those qualifiers, so he was the natural choice! And his name…" He paused for dramatic effect. "...Was Peter Port!"

What followed was a ridiculous, repentlessly self-indulgent, and frankly bizarre story that left Red utterly bewildered. Try as she might, the wolf could find nothing of value in anything the professor was saying. Anything that might have been good to know was either something she was already aware of through field experience, or it was buried underneath so many layers of ego-stroking that it was impossible to discern from the rest of his drivel.

Again, Red found herself absolutely astonished. _This _was the kind of person they let teach at Beacon? It would have been laughable if she wasn't experiencing it firsthand. When Yang had said that he was a blowhard and that this class would be useless, she hadn't been lying. If anything, she had actually understated what the class would be like. If the other classes were anything like this one, then it was going to be an uphill battle to learn anything.

At least she wasn't alone, if her classmates were any indication. No matter where she looked, it seemed like nobody was paying any attention. Half the class looked to have followed Yang's lead and seized the chance for some extra sleep. The other half was either daydreaming or fooling around in some way. In front of her, for example, Jaune and his team were trying their hardest to silently and stealthily contain Nora, who had somehow managed to pull one of her 40mm grenades out of nowhere and was playing around with it, all while the pint-sized girl whispered assurances to them that it was safe.

Red would have been worried if she didn't know for a fact that Nora was right. Unless she somehow managed to punch the primer and let the grenade travel a certain distance, it was harmless. Frankly, she didn't understand what they were all so worried about; she had handled more dangerous ordnance in much more stressful circumstances.

Meanwhile, her team wasn't doing much better. Yang was still slumped back in her chair, snoring softly. Blake was engrossed in her book, and judging from the look on her face – Red wasn't quite sure how to describe it or what it meant, but she somehow doubted that anybody got that flustered reading about Grimm – it wasn't exactly educational. And Weiss… seemed to be doing her best to follow Port's rambling, taking notes the whole time.

Odd, but Red had to admit that she had a good work ethic, even if it was being put towards something useless.

Yawning slightly, Red had just about resigned herself to following in Yang's footsteps when a ball of paper landed on her desk. A quick look around told her nothing about where it came from. Curious, she picked it up, unfolding it.

_Animals belong in the zoo._

Reading the message, she tilted her head questioningly. Apparently, someone had thought this was an important enough revelation that they felt the need to share it with her. She had never been to a zoo, but she knew enough about them to be aware of the fact that they did, indeed, house animals. Why one of her classmates had felt so compelled to inform her of this in the middle of class, she had no idea.

One time, a few years back, she had heard Almost describe a target as metaphorically possessing a room-temperature IQ. Apparently, this was a roundabout way of calling someone very stupid. At the time, she didn't think she'd ever run into a situation where she would be able to properly apply the phrase herself, but Beacon's student body was quickly proving her wrong.

Shrugging, Red balled the note up and set it aside, then leaned back and shut her eyes. A few seconds passed before she heard something else land on her desk. With a sigh of irritation, she cracked her eyes open and reached for the new note, figuring that they were just going to keep sending her more unless she reacted to them in some way.

_Who let you off your leash, mutt?_

Ah, so that was what the last note was supposed to imply. Unfortunately for the note-thrower, Red couldn't care less about what they had to say to her. She was already planning to separate herself from the rest of the student body, and it wasn't like she expected much from the human population at Beacon anyway. Frankly, all the note was doing was echoing what she knew many of the others at Beacon thought of her… and not all that well; try as they might, words would never have the same effect as being refused service, or being threatened with violence.

Or, for that matter, as being stuck training with Almost, or being forced to kill innocent people, or being stuck on a team with a long-lost sister that would hate her if the truth ever got out, or being forced to be around a girl she had nearly killed and who already hated her and who-

"Passing notes in class, Miss Canis?"

Red blinked in surprise, rousing herself from her thoughts. Looking around, she could see the professor standing in the middle of the room, staring at her with an irritated expression on his face. Everyone else in the class was staring at her, some with looks of pity and compassion and others with looks of mirth.

Of _course _he had singled her out. Just her luck, she supposed.

Red looked up at him, frowning. "No, sir. Someone is sending them to me. I am not responding, nor do I intend to start."

"And do you know who that might be?"

"No, sir."

"Then perhaps you'd like to share it with us?"

Looking down at the note in her hands, Red's frown deepened. "No, sir." She grabbed both notes and tore them up. "It's nothing important. Certainly nothing worth sharing."

Professor Port hummed in thought. "Is that so?" She nodded. "Then I'd like for you to prove to me that you've been paying attention to my lecture. Call your locker to this room, get geared up, and take up a spot on one side of the arena in the center, if you'd please."

Nodding in understanding, the wolf pulled out her scroll and directed her locker to land in the room. A panel in the roof opened up, allowing it to land in a corner next to the blackboard. Red rose from her seat and stepped over to it, throwing it open and reaching for her gear. Once she had everything strapped into place, she shut the door and turned to face Professor Port.

"Your orders, sir?"

In response, Port retrieved his weapon – a blunder-ax – from where it was mounted on the wall. For just a moment, Red thought that he wanted her to spar with him, though he quickly proved her wrong when he instead hit a button on his desk. The floor on the other side of the makeshift arena opened up, allowing a large cage to rise out. It was impossible to see what was held inside, but whatever it was, it wasn't happy to be locked up, if the loud growls and shaking of the cage were any indication.

Port moved over to it, holding his weapon like an ax. "When I open this cage, you will be fighting a Boarbatusk. I want you to apply what I discussed in my lecture to defeat it. You will be graded based on your performance. Are you ready?"

Hesitantly, Red nodded. She wasn't sure what he had discussed, but she had her own ways of taking down Grimm, which would have to do. Hopefully he deemed them adequate.

"Go!" he shouted, bringing his axe down on the cage's lock, shattering it and letting the door fall.

"Kick its butt, Red!" Yang called, having woken from her sleep. A grin split her face as the Grimm took its first step out into the room and glared at Red, who stood there poised with one hand held over her holstered gun. "Show it who's-"

Four gunshots cut her off before she could get any further. The entire class watched, stunned, as the Grimm's head simply ceased to exist from a series of explosive rounds to each one of its four eyes. The Boarbatusk fell lifelessly, then began dissipating into smoke.

Across the room, Red Canis stood, her pistol clutched in both hands with a wisp of smoke rising from the muzzle. A fraction of a second later, a small ringing sound echoed through the room as four spent shell casings landed on the floor, bouncing a bit before rolling to a stop a few feet away. She stared at the Grimm for a moment before holstering her gun and turning back to Professor Port, an even expression on her face.

"Was that acceptable?" she asked.

Port blinked, surprised. After a moment, a huge grin crossed his face and he let out a hearty laugh. "My girl, that was more than just acceptable! Why, I do believe that might be a new record for my class! Admittedly, it wasn't quite what I had lectured on, but you provided a valuable lesson nonetheless!"

Turning to the rest of the class, he said, "As Miss Canis has just shown, shots through the eyes are an effective way of taking down basic Grimm! However, due to their difficulty, it is often better to go with a safer and more reliable method! For a Boarbatusk, that would be attacking its unarmored underside!" He looked back to her. "Still, an excellent showing. Full marks for you, Miss Canis! Though next time, do try to replicate what I was lecturing on; while your method was very well-executed, it wasn't quite what I had in mind."

Red nodded, then moved back to her locker and began removing her gear. Truthfully, she was more than a little underwhelmed. In anticipation of a heavy fight, she had donned all her gear, including her plate carrier and several spare magazines for her two guns, only for her to end it with several bullets before it could even start. Still, it wasn't a total loss – it had at least affirmed that her marksmanship skills hadn't gotten rusty in the time between leaving the White Fang and arriving at Beacon. It would do for a very basic test of her abilities, but she was going to need something more in-depth if she wanted to get stronger.

Shutting her locker and sending it back to where it came from with a few taps on her scroll, Red turned and walked back to her seat, doing her best to ignore the stares and whispers of the rest of her classmates. Settling in next to Blake, she found that all of her team as well as JNPR couldn't keep their eyes off of her.

"...Yes?" she asked.

"What the heck was _that?!" _Yang asked excitedly. "I didn't even see your hands _move!_ That was insane!"

"You looked like one of the characters from those old Vacuan cowboy movies," Jaune added. "It was really cool."

Red shifted nervously, unsure how to respond. "...Thanks?"

"It was very impressive," Pyrrha added. "I agree with what Jaune said, but I will add that in all my years as a tournament fighter, I can't recall ever seeing someone move as fast as you did. Even well-seasoned fighters would be slow by comparison. What's your secret?"

The wolf hesitated, unsure of how to respond without giving away too much of her past. Finally, after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, she came up with what felt like a suitable answer.

"...Practice."

Everyone looked slightly disappointed by that, with the exception of Pyrrha (who chuckled knowingly) and Weiss (who scoffed).

"Settle down, students!" Professor Port called. "Now, we are almost out of time! For our next class, I want you to read the first two chapters in your textbook and write a one-page summary about the different types of Grimm that can be found around Vale! Next time, we will have someone else demonstrate how to kill a Boarbatusk the way I explained! Would anyone like to volunteer-"

"I will, sir!" Weiss interrupted, raising her hand.

He nodded in understanding. "Very well, Miss Schnee. First thing tomorrow, we'll have you show us how it's done."

And with that, the bell rang. Everybody began to file out towards their next class, with Red leading them, leaving a small trail of black rose petals as she hurried away.

Yang, Pyrrha, and Jaune had looked like they wanted to ask additional questions, and she wasn't about to get roped into a conversation with anyone if she could avoid it.

* * *

"Welcome, welcome! Please come in and take your seats! If you aren't already, I would like all of you to sit next to your teammates!"

Red didn't bother to watch as the rest of her team entered the room and sat next to her. She had arrived several minutes before everyone else thanks to her semblance, and was already prepared for class, which seemed like it was going to be similar in quality as the previous one, but for a completely different reason.

When she had arrived, the professor had been waiting for them. Since she was the first, that meant that for several minutes, she was stuck talking to him. It had taken all of one sentence for her to realize that the man was an absolute motormouth. His method of speech, much like Nora when she was excited, was directly comparable with a machine gun: it was loud, fast, and trying to follow each word was about as doable as counting each individual round fired from the gun's barrel in a long burst.

Needless to say, any hopes she might have been holding onto had very quickly been dashed. At least it was only history, which was something she actually wasn't completely clueless in. Still, it was irritating that she apparently wouldn't be getting anything out of this class, either. Hopefully her other classes would be better, Combat Class in particular.

But she wasn't about to hold her breath.

The bell rang, and the professor cleared his throat. "Right, then! Let's begin!"

He turned and motioned to the blackboard, where his name was written in chalk. "I am Doctor Oobleck! Yes, _Doctor –_ I did not earn the distinction of my PHD for nothing! Please address me as such!" Turning back to them, he took a quick sip from his thermos before continuing. "In this class, we will talk about history! Can anyone tell me why learning about history is important?"

Weiss' hand immediately shot up. He motioned to her, and she beamed a bit before answering. "Because we can use the past to learn about and improve the future."

"Precisely!" Oobleck said. "If any of you came through those doors thinking that I would be lecturing you about the triumphs of past Huntsmen and Huntresses, you are sorely mistaken! Also, I believe you would be more at home in the classroom of a certain portly, mustachioed associate of mine, but that's neither here nor there!"

Red blinked, surprised. Apparently, he _could _slow down when the situation called for it.

His comment drew a few light chuckles from some of the class, which he quickly waved off. "This class is not about learning of our past successes. It is not about reveling in battles won, or victories earned. It is about one thing and one thing only: learning from our mistakes. Can anyone tell me approximately how much of Remnant we control as of this day?"

This time, no hands went up. Weiss looked as though she was concentrating hard to try and think of the answer, but even she was coming up empty. Oobleck, however, did not seem disappointed.

"I will tell you," he said. "As of today, almost all of the population of Remnant is concentrated into about thirty-three percent of the world's landmass. The rest is either sparsely populated by settlers, or completely controlled by Grimm and unsafe to venture out into. And that number is continuing to drop slightly day by day."

Much of the class suddenly seemed unnerved at what he was telling them, but he didn't let up. "Now then, can anyone give me the rough estimate for how much Dust has been mined so far since the end of the Great War?"

This time, Weiss' hand went straight up. He grinned. "As expected. Tell us, Miss Schnee."

"Approximately five-hundred million tons," she reported proudly.

"And how much Dust is estimated to remain in the mines securely in our control?"

Her proud expression suddenly faltered, causing her to hesitate. Again, Oobleck took over.

"I will answer this one for you as well, if you don't mind. According to a friend of mine – an expert in Dust mining who regularly consults with some of the biggest mining companies on Remnant, your family's included – there are approximately one billion tons of Dust left for us to gather before our mines run completely dry. Now, how many of you believe that number to be very large?"

A few hands went up, and Oobleck shook his head. "Keep in mind that the number provided by Miss Schnee starts from eighty years ago, and that production and consumption back then were a pittance compared to what they are now." All the hands went down. "You're all catching on quick, I see. The truth, students, is that we are running out of Dust, and out of time. At the current rate of consumption, we will be completely out of Dust in just a few decades. Given how important of a resource it is, I don't think I need to spell out what will happen to us if it disappears."

A sudden murmur of fear and discontent suddenly went up through the room. Doctor Oobleck quickly held up his hand to silence them.

"I am not telling you this to scare you. Rather, I am trying to put everything into perspective. Throughout history, our biggest conflicts have been against each other, not the Grimm. Every war costs us, in resources and in lives. Battles are fought, good men are killed, and then when it is all over, the survivors are beset by Grimm. Inevitably, they retreat, leaving behind much of the territory that was gained over the course of the battle, valuable Dust mines included. Eighty years ago, we had roughly fifty-three percent of the world under our control. The Great War cost us dearly. Now, we are running out of time… but rather than address the real problem, we are content to fight amongst ourselves over petty things such as race."

He clasped his hands behind his back. "My generation failed to heed the lessons our history taught us. We have done little to address the Goliath in the room, and in fact things have only gotten worse with the White Fang's turn to violence a few years back. We are, all of us, little more than old fools. We gambled with lives, both ours and our children's – _your _lives – and we have nothing to show for it but another pathetic legacy that will turn to ash in a few decades if nothing is done. We have failed all of you, and the worst part is that most of us don't even realize it."

He paused for another sip of coffee. "But that's where you come in," he said. "You are not your parents, the same way your parents were not your grandparents. Progress is being made with every passing generation. Why, even just a few decades ago, all of the combat schools and Huntsman Academies except Beacon and Shade were segregated. When most of your parents were born, it was actually illegal almost everywhere on Remnant for a Faunus and a human to intermarry, Menagerie included. Does anyone know how many places still have a law on the books preventing a Faunus from marrying a human, and vice versa?"

Again, nobody's hand went up. Oobleck cracked a small grin. "It was a bit of a trick question. As of last year, when the Atlesian Supreme Court overturned their own ban, there aren't any outside of a few small frontier towns. And by that time, even that law was more of a relic than anything; it hadn't been enforced in roughly a decade. Can anyone see where I'm going with this?"

To Red's surprise, Yang raised her hand. "You think that we're going to be the generation to finally realize what's important."

His grin widened. "Precisely, Miss Xiao Long! Yes, I have very high hopes for all of you! Faunus are becoming more and more integrated and common in communities around Remnant, and thanks to the proliferation of the DustNet, almost everybody has talked to a Faunus at some point in their lives, even if it wasn't face-to-face! I am of the belief that familiarity breeds understanding rather than contempt, and your generation is definitely the one that is most familiar with races other than your own! That being said, I think it is necessary to put things into perspective once again. I can see we have several Faunus in this class, so I will be asking a question of all of you. If it is too personal, you are free to refrain from answering, but I would very much appreciate it if you were honest regardless.

"With a show of hands, how many of you have been on the receiving end of some form of harassment because of your race?"

Nearly every Faunus in the class raised their hand. Red was the sole exception, as she didn't want to draw attention to herself. Oobleck's smile faded.

"Of those who were harassed, how many of you have experienced it from people in your own age group?"

Not a single person's hand went down. This time, Oobleck sighed and shook his head sadly.

"Progress is gradual, unfortunately," he admitted. "We have made great strides, but undoing the mistakes of the past is difficult. Clearly, racism is still a problem, though one only has to take a trip to downtown Vale to experience it for themselves – the marriage bans have been overturned, but there are other laws still in place that, while perhaps not as egregious, do nothing but foster fear and hatred, and cause further division and distraction from our true foe."

Jaune's hand went up. "But you said that you think we can fix all that?"

"I did, Mister Arc," Oobleck replied. "Out of all of recorded history, I believe that this current generation is in the best position to accomplish such. But it will take time, and more importantly, it will take knowledge. If you were curious, this is why Headmaster Ozpin has required everybody to take some form of history during all four years at Beacon: in this class, we will be confronting our ancestors' mistakes and our own preconceived biases, and learning from them. And rest assured, I take my job very seriously – if even one of you manages to graduate without having your worldview on this matter challenged, I will consider myself to have failed as a teacher." Again, a smile split his face. "But I am confident enough in my teaching abilities and in the ability of my students to be open-minded that I do not believe that will happen."

He looked at his watch. "I believe that covers the introduction. Now that I have frightened you all and instilled you with a sense of urgency, let's begin with our first topic of the year: the history of the Faunus Rights Revolution. Before we open our textbooks to the first chapter, could anyone give me an abridged version of the opening stages of the war? Specifically, I would like to know what the impetus for the conflict was, as well as the first big moves made by either side. This should be a review for most of you." He turned to Red, then smiled. "How about you, Miss Canis?"

Honestly, she should have expected that he would call on her at some point, what with her being the first to arrive ahead of schedule. Two of her teammates speaking up probably hadn't helped matters. Fortunately, this was something she actually had some knowledge of. For once, Sienna's teachings would come in handy.

"The Faunus Rights Revolution began when the Faunus were given Menagerie as a token of appreciation for their efforts during the Great War," Red stated. "It was viewed as an insult rather than a gift."

"And why was that?"

"Because Menagerie was undeveloped and mostly inhospitable, as well as far away from all of the other kingdoms. The island is mostly desert, meaning it is difficult to create settlements as there is a shortage of resources to go around. Even the name was a thinly-veiled insult – a menagerie is a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition. Essentially, it was humanity's way of concentrating their undesirables in one spot where they wouldn't cause any problems."

"And why would humanity view the Faunus as a problem?"

"Because they feared us," Red answered. "And they feared us because they don't understand us. We look different, and that's all the reason they needed."

To her surprise, Oobleck frowned. "That is actually incorrect, at least objectively. In truth, humanity feared the Faunus because of their actions during the Great War. Due to their unique traits, the Faunus who fought in the Great War valued self-expression far more than almost everybody else, and therefore viewed Atlas' and Mistral's attempts at censorship to be a direct attack on them as a race. They often went to extreme lengths, and although there were atrocities on all sides, Faunus were stereotyped as committing most of them due to their often extreme beliefs, even though proportionally they were no more guilty than any humans were.

"Essentially, humanity took the actions of a few Faunus and used them to represent the whole group in order to get rid of them while also downplaying their own war crimes. They did this primarily to avoid having to provide any meaningful method of compensation for the services provided by Faunus during the war, even though the King of Vale himself was vehemently against this course of action." He took a breath. "Sorry, I was rambling. Anyway, perhaps you can tell me what the impetus for revolution was?"

Red hesitated before nodding slightly. "...There was a bombing," she began. "Negotiations between Menagerie and the rest of the world were starting to fall apart; the Faunus felt like nobody was listening to them. Eventually, a Faunus revolutionary got angry and bombed the motorcade of an Atlesian politician, killing him, his wife and kids, and several well-renowned soldiers he was traveling with."

Again, Oobleck frowned. "He killed more than that, Miss Canis," he amended. "Forty-one people died in the blast, most of them innocent civilians who were simply there to see the motorcade. Atlas, blinded with rage, immediately executed the man responsible as well as any of his associates they felt could be connected to the bombing without trial, then went on to demand further recompense from Menagerie.

"Menagerie, naturally, deemed this unacceptable; in response, Atlas quickly began rounding up any Faunus who lived close to their territory and who they felt were too extreme in their beliefs and imprisoned them, again without trial. Lacking a standing army at this time, Menagerie never officially declared war, but it was clear they had to respond, so instead they began covertly supporting many of the more extreme paramilitary Faunus groups across Remnant by providing them with money, manpower, and weapons."

He turned back to the rest of the class. "Now that we've addressed the opening stages of the war, please turn to chapter one. I will need a volunteer to begin reading..."

Red blinked, confused. Where had she gone wrong? She had only explained everything as she had learned it, thanks to-

Immediately, she frowned. Why had she blindly believed Sienna on this, again? The woman was a proven liar; obviously her teachings would be filled to the brim with propaganda as well. A small flash of annoyance pulsed through her, causing her to let out a sigh. Apparently, she was going to have to start from square one and completely relearn history as she knew it, because absolutely nothing that she had been taught up to this point was trustworthy.

Out of the corner of her eye, Red caught Weiss glaring at her, clearly unimpressed with her wrong answer. The wolf didn't acknowledge her directly, but she did slump down in her seat slightly.

She was tempted to say that today couldn't get any worse, but somehow she knew that it was just the beginning.

* * *

Doctor Oobleck had turned out to be better than expected – that is, he was _infinitely _better than Port – but Red still had no idea what to expect from her next class when she walked through the door and took a seat.

It had, in fact, started off somewhat boring, with Professor Goodwitch spending a good amount of time going through the rules of her class, which amounted to a simple list: Victory was by aura depletion, ring out, or submission; if either one of the combatants or Professor Goodwitch gave the order to stop fighting, then everyone in the ring was to immediately stop; no attacking an opponent when their aura was down; and finally, anyone whose aura dropped to twenty-five percent or lower was considered to have lost the fight, and all combat was to cease at that point.

It was all very straightforward, yet Red found herself perplexed by it nonetheless. She had spent close to a decade sparring with no rules and had only emerged stronger and more experienced for it, yet these students were worried about their aura dropping to less than a quarter of what it originally was? Being first-years was hardly an excuse given that her old mentor had broken her ribs on purpose at the ripe old age of eight.

Even worse, they wouldn't be learning any of the valuable skills Red had picked up over the years, either. First aid, room clearing, low-light training, working through extreme pain… none of them were on the curriculum, and if the look on Professor Goodwitch's face upon being asked about some of them was any indication, they wouldn't ever be on it, either. That was incredibly disappointing to hear… but on the plus side, at least they would actually get to fight in Combat Class.

According to Professor Goodwitch, everybody was going to step into the ring at some point during the first week so she could gauge each of their skill levels. The fights generally tended to last only a few minutes each, meaning that they could fit plenty of them into a single class, even if she took the time to lecture about something. Apparently, they would eventually start being taught skills and tactics and then asked to apply them in a proper combat scenario, but for now it was just going to be one-on-ones.

Frankly, Red was just surprised that they seemed to be taking hand-to-hand training seriously enough that Professor Goodwitch had emphasized that _everyone _would at the very least be proficient in it within four years. The older Huntsmen she had fought during her time in the White Fang certainly hadn't had it as one of their skill sets, which made them easy prey for her once she managed to separate them from their weapons. If nothing else, it was good to see that the Academies were learning from what she had done, even if the memory of it all made her stomach churn.

Shaking her head, Red looked down towards the arena to focus on the fight. Currently, there were two boys in the ring… and if she was being honest, neither one was particularly impressive. The tall orange-haired one had promise, but he was clearly more interested in playing with his opponent than fighting seriously. The other combatant, a blonde-haired boy dressed in bronze-colored armor and carrying a sword, was far too reckless to be considered a threat. His swordsmanship was decent enough, but he was very quick to anger and fell for whatever bait the mace-wielder set for him.

In any case, the fight was boring; both of them were clearly amateurs, there was almost no strategy being employed by either of them, and both of their styles were full of obvious weak points. Even worse, it had dragged on for almost twice as long as the last few fights had; at this point, Red was silently urging the mace-wielder to hurry up already.

Thankfully, Professor Goodwitch agreed, if her scowl was any indication. Finally, she sighed angrily. "Mister Winchester, do you plan to simply sit there and block your teammate's strikes all day, or will I have to force you to start taking this seriously in order to speed things up?"

Cardin smirked. "Why speed things up, Teach? I'm having a good time." He looked over to his opponent, and his smirk grew. "'Sides, it's not like he can actually hit me."

The blonde boy growled before launching into another series of strikes, each of which was blocked by his team leader. In his rage, he left himself open for a counterattack with almost every hit, but Cardin refused to take advantage, only striking him with an open palm to the chest in order to push him back a ways.

Glynda's scowl deepened. "If this fight isn't over in sixty seconds, I'm giving you both a failing grade for the day."

"Damn, fun's over," Cardin said. His grin turned predatory. "...Well, almost."

He turned his attention towards his opponent, who was standing across from him and trying to catch his breath. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before Cardin relaxed.

"Fight's over," he said.

Red blinked, confused, before looking over to where the other combatant stood. To her surprise, he was standing there, eyes wide with fear and his whole body trembling. The blonde took a few steps back, desperately looking around for an escape from something only he could see. Moments later, his sword came clattering to the ground as he turned and began running away.

He only made it a few steps before a blast from Cardin's mace hit him in the back, sending him flying out of the ring. A buzzer sounded, indicating that he was out of the fight.

"Mister Winchester is victorious," Professor Goodwitch reported dryly. Turning to him, she glared. "I thought we told you the guidelines for using your semblance when you first arrived at this school, Mister Winchester."

He smirked. "Sorry, Teach. I forgot."

"Oh, I'm sure. If I ever catch you using it like that again, there will be severe consequences. Now get your teammate and return to your seats, and don't ever play around in my class again."

Cardin simply nodded before rolling his shoulders and stepping off the stage, helping his teammate off the ground as he did so. The blonde boy glared at him, but Cardin didn't react, and the two of them silently walked back to their seats.

"What kind of semblance was _that…?_" Red heard Yang mutter from a few seats down.

An illusion-based semblance of some kind, if Red had to guess. Beyond that, she had no idea how it functioned. Still, illusion semblances, while rare, tended to be somewhat similar to each other – there were only so many ways to manipulate the mind in a substantial manner, after all. Red had encountered one of them before during a job to kill a Specialist a few years back, and it had proven to be one of the toughest fights of her life. Cardin having one had certainly bumped her threat assessment of him up a bit, and it was likely that it would only continue to improve as she learned more about its capabilities. He was certainly one of the more dangerous people she had seen fight today, if only because his semblance was unpredictable and difficult to counter by default.

Professor Goodwitch looked down at her scroll. "Miss Nikos, you're up. And your sparring partner will be-"

"Um, actually," Pyrrha interrupted hesitantly, "There is someone in particular that I'd like to fight, if you don't mind?"

Glynda glanced up from her scroll. "Provided they haven't already fought today, I don't see why not. Who did you have in mind?"

"Red Canis."

At the sound of her name being called, Red looked up in surprise. Pyrrha met her gaze and sheepishly grinned.

"You don't mind, do you?" the redhead asked. "I've wanted to spar against you since initiation."

Red hesitated. Her first instinct was to refuse, but if she was going to be called on to spar at some point during the week anyway, then there was no reason to, especially since it meant that if she accepted, there was no chance of her being put up against Yang or Weiss today.

Nodding her head, Red rose from her seat. "I accept."

Pyrrha smiled widely. "Thank you! Let's both do our best!"

Odd choice of words, but Red wasn't about to vocalize that out loud. Instead, she turned and began walking down towards the arena. As she walked, she checked both of her guns, making sure there was a round chambered in each before placing them back on her belt. She then ran her hands over her other gear – chest rig, plate carrier, satchel, knife – to make sure it was properly secured. Finally, she flexed her arm a bit to make sure the stitches were still holding, breathing a sigh of relief when she found that they were.

Stepping into the ring, the two of them took up spots directly across from each other. Pyrrha stood in a ready position, sword in one hand and shield in the other, while Red simply stood with a hand hovering over her pistol, ready to reach for it at a moment's notice. Both of them stared each other down, though to Red's surprise, Pyrrha's friendly gaze faltered a bit when their eyes met.

She couldn't imagine why.

"Combatants ready?" Glynda called.

"Ready," they both responded.

"Standby… begin."

The words had barely left her mouth when Red drew her pistol and fired off several rounds towards Pyrrha. The first two were blocked by her shield, but the other two struck the ground in front of her, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke. Her cover in place, the Faunus dashed forwards using her semblance, hooking her arm around Pyrrha's neck in the process and using her momentum to slam the redhead into the ground back-first. She went for her pistol again, leveling the barrel towards her prone opponent and pulling the trigger three times, only for a black aura to envelope the weapon and push it slightly to the left, throwing her aim somewhat off. For her efforts, all she got was an even bigger cloud of dust.

Pyrrha was quick to leap to her feet, switching her weapon into its javelin form and jabbing it towards Red while she hid behind her shield. Red used her semblance to jump backwards, leaving Pyrrha overextended; she capitalized on this by firing the final round left in her gun, which Pyrrha again blocked. The ex-assassin swapped her spent magazine with a fresh one before holstering her gun and drawing her knife, then rushing forwards once more.

As she approached, Red saw Pyrrha tense, waiting for her. The Faunus drew close, but at the last second sped to Pyrrha's side and lashed out with her knife. Again, that black aura surrounded her weapon, pushing it off-course and leaving her surprised. Pyrrha seized the opportunity to get several thrusts in, chipping away steadily at Red's aura before the Faunus recovered, parrying the tip of Pyrrha's javelin with her knife, though Pyrrha responded by simply swinging her shield around, catching Red in the chest with the sharpened edge.

Once more, Red used her semblance to dash away. The two paused on opposite ends of the arena, staring each other down, giving Red time to think. Clearly, Pyrrha was fighting very defensively, no doubt trying to determine Red's fighting style before getting more aggressive. The redhead had an advantage over her in melee thanks to her weapon's long reach, and her shield was going to be difficult to get through with ranged weaponry. Plus, there was the matter of that black aura, no doubt Pyrrha's semblance, which Red wasn't sure about. She had seen it at work during initiation, when Pyrrha had levitated Nora's grenades over to Blake, but she still wasn't sure what it was. Whatever it was capable of, it seemed to only affect her weapons; while this put her at a severe disadvantage, it also meant that unarmed combat was still an option.

Red drew her knife before switching it over to her left hand, and the two of them began circling each other, each one waiting for the other to make a move. Suddenly, the Faunus drew her pistol and fired another shot towards Pyrrha's head, which was once again blocked by her shield. Before Pyrrha could recover, she holstered both her weapons, her deception having already paid off. Getting in close, she grabbed Pyrrha's arm at the wrist and pulled it out, then kicked the redhead's legs out from underneath her and twisted. Rather than disarm her successfully, the same black aura surrounded Pyrrha's javelin, locking it in place.

The tournament fighter swung her shield towards Red once more, catching her in the legs and causing her to split off. This time, when Red moved to disengage, Pyrrha shifted her weapon over to its rifle form and fired off several shots, each one striking Red in her torso. Stumbling from each hit, Red eventually recovered and drew her pistol to shoot back, only to hear Pyrrha come sprinting towards her. She narrowly ducked out of the way of an incoming javelin strike, leveling her pistol towards her opponent in retaliation, only for her aim to once again be compromised.

Pyrrha seemed to have expected her to disengage once more, and was entirely unprepared when Red simply threw her pistol away before going for a series of unarmed jabs to Pyrrha's right side. Each one had been enhanced with a bit of Red's semblance and was aimed squarely at Pyrrha's liver. The champion's aura protected her from any real damage, but the surprise and discomfort from being struck in such a delicate spot caused her to drop her guard for just a moment, which Red took advantage of by speeding behind her and grappling her into submission.

Now on the ground, Red wrapped her arm around Pyrrha's neck from behind and squeezed. Up above the arena, she could see her opponent's aura steadily start to drop as it did its best to keep her airflow from being cut off. Pyrrha, meanwhile, thrashed around in her grip, trying desperately to either escape or attack with her weapons, but unable to because of the odd position Red had her in. Unable to jab at the Faunus with her javelin, she switched it over to its rifle mode and angled it behind herself, but Red simply used her free hand to pull back on the rifle's charging handle several times, ejecting whatever rounds were left in the gun before they could be fired.

After a few pulls, the en bloc clip ejected with a loud ping, indicating the weapon was empty, and Pyrrha now had no way of striking back. Futilely, she shifted it to its sword form and tried to stab and cut at the arm wrapped around her neck, but whatever damage she could do paled in comparison to how fast her own aura was being drained.

To Red's surprise, Pyrrha suddenly dropped her sword entirely. Before she could ascertain what the redhead had planned, she saw her abandoned pistol again be surrounded in that same black aura before flying into Pyrrha's waiting hand. The champion wasted no time in pointing the gun over her shoulder and squeezing the trigger until it went click. Red found herself forced to duck out of the way, her grip slackening in the process, which was all Pyrrha needed to finally break free with a burst of strength. The two of them broke apart, Pyrrha tossing Red's empty pistol aside and scooping up her sword with her now-empty hand before spinning around.

She was met with the barrel of Red's rifle pointed squarely at her head. Her eyes widened in surprise as Red pulled the trigger at almost point-blank range, the chambered Lightning Dust round striking her directly between the eyes. Electricity arced across her body as she spasmed in place for a moment, giving Red enough time to speed behind her once again. This time, just as she got behind Pyrrha, the black aura surrounded the metal magazines in her chest rig, pulling her close and causing her to lose her balance. Before she could recover, Pyrrha spun around, sword at the ready, and lashed out with a series of slashes. Red took four of them before she could do anything, but when the fifth came, she caught the blade with one hand and pushed it aside.

Pyrrha was quick to bring her shield around for a strike, but Red dodged out of the way, retaliating with a barehanded strike to her face. Pyrrha recoiled from the hit, but was otherwise unfazed, again slashing at Red with her sword, though the former White Fang member met it with her own blade, redirecting it away from her before going for another punch. Pyrrha raised her shield, protecting herself, before using her semblance on Red's magazines to push her back slightly.

Stumbling, Red was unprepared for when Pyrrha suddenly _threw _her shield at her, and was struck in the head by the sharpened edge, surprising her enough to make her drop her knife. Before she could recover, Pyrrha was upon her, but she had no intention of using her sword this time. Instead, the redhead swept Red's legs out from beneath her and used her newly-freed hand to roughly slam her to the ground, then quickly grabbed her from behind and began to choke her out.

Finding herself countered by her own move, Red struggled in Pyrrha's grasp, unable to do anything for a few seconds. Finally, she rolled over onto her right side, then began blindly reaching out with her left hand, trying to claw at Pyrrha's eyes. The Faunus felt her opponent flinch, which gave her just enough time to look around for something to use. Spying her knife nearby, she grabbed it, then began stabbing Pyrrha wherever she could, mainly in her stomach, chest, and neck. Her grapple having failed, Pyrrha had no choice but to let her go and disengage.

Again finding themselves on opposite sides of the arena, the two of them once more stared each other down, both of them panting heavily and dripping with sweat. Looking down, Red saw her pistol lying nearby, and quickly picked it up before swapping magazines. Across from her, Pyrrha loaded a fresh en bloc clip into her rifle before racking the bolt and chambering a round. Both of them cast a quick glance up at the screen above the arena. They were almost neck-and-neck, each one hovering around thirty percent, with Pyrrha having a slight advantage. Both of them looked back towards each other, determination etched across their faces.

They both knew that the next engagement would likely be the last.

The two of them moved at the same time, both of them dashing forwards, Red using her semblance. She ran right past Pyrrha before turning around and firing off several shots towards her. To her surprise, Pyrrha had anticipated this, and had spun around and thrown her shield just as Red had run past her. The Faunus had no time to react before she caught the edge of Pyrrha's shield to her face, which sent her sprawling onto the ground, her pistol slipping out of her grasp and her head ringing.

A buzzer sounded, and Red growled in irritation. Picking herself up off the ground, she looked up at the screen, and was unsurprised by the result. She had lost, her aura having dipped to just below the twenty-five percent mark. Pyrrha's, meanwhile, was just above said mark, some of Red's bullets having hit true. Looking over to her, Red saw her pick herself up off the ground before she looked up at the screen, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Miss Nikos is the winner," Professor Goodwitch said. Her tone was dramatically different from the previous matches. If Red didn't know any better, she would have thought that the Huntress sounded almost impressed.

Red shakily pulled herself up from the ground, dusting herself off before swapping her pistol's nearly-empty magazine with a fresh one and holstering it. The whole room was silent, with nobody saying anything or moving a muscle.

Then, someone loudly smacked their desk. Looking up, Red saw that it was Yang. The blonde had a huge smile on her face.

"That was _awesome!_" she shouted.

Red shrank under her sister's praise. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice, as the entire class took that moment to begin speaking once again.

"That was the best fight I've had in _years._"

Looking to her side, Red was surprised to see Pyrrha standing there. She had thought Yang's smile had been big, but Pyrrha's seemed to stretch on for miles. The redhead extended a hand to her.

"We _have _to spar again sometime," Pyrrha said. For a moment, Red thought she sounded almost desperate, but she had no idea why. Pushing that thought from her head, she instead hesitantly grabbed Pyrrha's hand, and the two shook.

After shaking, the two split apart and returned to their seats. When Red got back to hers, she found her team waiting for her, Weiss included, much to her surprise.

"Yes?" she asked.

"We're sparring sometime," Yang announced.

Red froze. "...I'm sorry?"

"You heard me," the blonde pressed. "You were amazing out there. I wanted to spar you after initiation, but now that I've seen that you have some unarmed training, I _really _want to spar with you."

"...Your arm and leg are broken."

"Duh," Yang said, grinning. "But once I'm fixed up, I want to see where I stand. What do you say?"

Red hesitated, unsure of how to reply. Yang seemed really excited about this, and while her instincts were screaming at her to refuse, she couldn't find it in herself to disappoint her sister so openly.

"...Maybe some time," she said softly.

Yang's grin softened, but she seemed to accept the answer. Red breathed a small sigh of relief before glancing off to the side, accidentally getting a look at Weiss in the process. The heiress met her gaze, allowing Red to see just how stunned she was, but she huffed and looked away after a moment. Red thought nothing of it, instead turning her attention back to the arena, where Professor Goodwitch was calling down the next pair of combatants. Rather than pay attention to the next fight, Red was running through the results of her own fight in her head.

To say she was disappointed in herself would have been an understatement. Pyrrha was undoubtedly a very skilled fighter, perhaps even more skilled than a few of the professional Huntsmen that Red had fought while in the White Fang, but she was still far from the toughest opponent that Red had ever faced before. As good as she was, she still didn't even compare to Almost, for example.

And that was the big problem – as far as Red was concerned, if she couldn't beat Pyrrha, how could she hope to even survive against Almost? Sure, Pyrrha seemed to have a very powerful semblance, but that was hardly an excuse. She was going to have to train even harder over these next four years. If Pyrrha had meant what she had said, maybe Red could even use her as a training partner at some point. It would be hard to coordinate since they were on different teams, but so far it was her best bet, unless something else came along to change that.

...But that would require her getting closer to someone, which she was hesitant to do. It would only complicate her plans. With a sigh, Red turned her attention back towards the arena.

Apparently, these next four years were going to be anything but easy.

* * *

One thing that Red had quickly come to appreciate about Beacon was its cafeteria. In the White Fang, most of the food she ate was either prepackaged courtesy of the Atlesian Military or something she had hunted and killed herself, and while eating whatever Beacon's cooks were serving was nowhere near as fulfilling as personally tracking and shooting a wild animal, it was definitely more flavorful. Almost had taught her how to hunt animals and prepare basic meals out of them, but he wasn't exactly a chef; because of this, most of the food that Red knew how to cook had little in the way of spices or variety, meaning it tended to taste somewhat bland. Plus, it wasn't like she ever really got the chance to try and improve her cooking, since most of the wild game she killed usually ended up having to be smoked and made into jerky in order to preserve it.

That being said, whatever she was eating in the White Fang was definitely healthier than what Beacon was serving her. But since she doubted that Ozpin was willing to let her head off into the Emerald Forest so she could butcher a few wild deer and gather some wild vegetables, she was just going to have to accept the food she was given.

Her stomach full, Red dropped her dishes off at the cleaning station before heading out of the cafeteria and back towards her dorm room. She still had much to do – cleaning her weapons, the day's assigned homework, and relearning history among them. Plus, she wanted to take a look at the shirt she had been wearing during initiation. The bloodstains would probably never come out, but the tear in the shoulder would be easy to fix. It wouldn't exactly be something that she could wear all the time, but it would be just fine to sleep or work out in.

Plus, patching up her shirt would be the perfect excuse to avoid interacting with her teammates any further. If they tried approaching her for whatever reason, she could simply tell them that she wanted to get the blood out of it first. Even if it was clearly there to stay, her excuse would be perfectly fine so long as she was obstinate about it. Anything to avoid having to talk to them.

With the rest of the night planned out, Red continued on her way. She turned a corner, brushing her way past a team of four boys, only for one of them to stop her in her tracks by holding a hand in front of her.

"Hey, wait up."

Pausing, Red turned to him, her head tilted confusedly. She instantly recognized the four of them as being fellow first-years. The one who had stopped her had been the mace-wielder from her combat class, though she couldn't remember his name at the moment.

"You were in combat class with us, yeah?" he asked. "You fought Nikos?"

Red nodded. He grinned softly at her. "That was a pretty good fight. I mean, I think I could have done better, but still."

At that, the wolf frowned. If how he had performed in his fight was any indication, then the two of them clearly had different definitions of the word 'better'. From what she had seen, Pyrrha would have stomped him without even breaking a sweat.

She refrained from saying anything, though. Instead, she simply nodded in understanding before trying to move past him.

"Hey, what's the rush?" he asked, this time moving his whole body to block her. The whole time, the grin never let his face. "We're just talking. Don't you like talking?"

Red shook her head at that.

"Seriously?" the orange-haired boy asked. "What, you mute or something? Everyone likes talking."

"Not me," Red replied softly.

"Oh, so you _can_. You just won't." Red nodded once again. He brought a hand up to rub at his chin. "You know, maybe it's not that you don't like talking. Maybe it's just that you don't like the _way _we're talking." His grin widened. "Would it be easier for you if we could bark?"

"...I'm not a dog," Red instantly answered.

"Coulda fooled me, what with those ears." He gestured towards her head for reference.

Red, seeing how this conversation was going to go, decided to try leaving once again. This time, when she tried to push past, two of the boy's three other teammates closed in around her. The third – the blonde – simply frowned.

"Guys, let's go," he said. "She's not worth it."

The leader looked back at him. "What's the matter? You afraid of her?"

"I just don't think she's worth messing with."

"Yeah? Well, I disagree. And I'm the leader, so what I say goes." He turned back to her, grinning a predatory grin. "What're you trying to leave for?" he asked. "We're just having a nice conversation. 'Sides, I had a few questions I wanted to ask."

The ex-assassin glanced around at the four boys surrounding her. They were all very clearly unarmed, dressed only in their school uniforms… but then again, so was she. That being said, none of them appeared to have hand-to-hand training; they were too loose and relaxed. If she wanted to, she could probably take them all down in a matter of hits. That, or just blow past them using her semblance. Common sense dictated that she do exactly that, but she wasn't willing to risk escalating things if nobody had thrown any punches yet. While she could have argued that she was just using her semblance to get away, it was likely to still be taken as an attack, especially since if someone else stumbled on them, it would be her word against four others.

For the time being, she was stuck there. The Faunus tensed, her hands clenching into fists as she waited on somebody to make a move.

"What kind of fighting style was all that, anyway?" the boy asked. Cardin – his name was Cardin, she suddenly remembered. "Seriously, just knives and guns? It's like you don't even have a mecha-shift weapon."

"She might be too poor for one, Cardin," one of the others, a blue-haired boy, pointed out. "You saw what she wore in combat class."

"Yeah, what was up with that?" He turned back to her, that cocky grin once more crossing his face. "You were wearing surplus gear from like thirty years ago. What, did you dig it out of a dumpster somewhere? None of it even matched. You looked like you came fresh out of a rummage sale."

"My gear is perfectly effective," Red replied evenly.

"It's perfectly shit, if you ask me. Though, it _does _go along with your fighting style well enough – it's all a bunch of cobbled-together shit thrown together without any rhyme or reason. Seriously, grapples? What are you gonna do, put an Ursa in a headlock and make it say uncle?"

"We fight more than Grimm," she pointed out.

"You're in a school specifically tailored to learning how to kill Grimm, yet you're worried about one day fighting people?" Cardin's grin disappeared, replaced with a hate-filled glare.

"You know, that's a dangerous line of thinking, Lassie, especially since you're a Faunus. Anyone else and I'd think they might have a point, but hearing that from someone like you? Well, now I'm a bit worried." He leaned in closer.

"You're not a White Fang member, are you?"

It took all of Red's self-control not to react. There was no way he could have known the truth, but simply being accused by a Beacon student was enough to put her on edge. Swallowing her apprehension, she instead looked him straight in the eyes and shook her head.

With a sneer, he backed away, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, that's just what you would say, isn't it? Well, let me tell you something, Fido – me and my team? We're keeping an eye on you. And we're not the only ones, either – you step out of line, and we'll be all over you. You'll regret ever stepping foot through Beacon's gates. And I hope you're not stupid enough to try something against us – there's four of us on this team, and I know plenty of upperclassmen who would be happy to stomp your face in. And if you think that's the only way we have to deal with you, then you're even stupider than I thought."

She looked away. "...What's your problem with me, anyway? I didn't do anything to you..."

"You animals tore my family apart, that's what," Cardin said with a sneer. "One of you killed my older brother two years ago. He was a good man, and they fucking cut him in half. Butchered him like livestock."

Red flinched. She knew exactly what he was referring to – one of the men who had been guarding Weiss had been murdered in the same way. Factor in the timeframe, and it all made sense. She lowered her head, unwilling to look Cardin in the eye, and equally unwilling to resist.

Whatever he wanted to do to her, she deserved. He had no way of knowing, but that didn't change anything. If he wanted to treat her like the monster she was, he had every right to.

Whatever she thought he had planned for her, it never came. Instead, he uncrossed his arms and motioned towards the cafeteria. "C'mon, boys. I think she's got the message. No need to waste our time any further."

Three of them each shot a spite-filled look her way before turning and marching off. Red watched them go, only allowing herself to relax once they were out of sight.

She was unsure how to react. Cardin had every right to try and make her miserable, but this time, he had chosen to let her go. She wouldn't have tried to resist if him or his team had tried anything… but only them. As far as she could tell, only he had a reason to want to ruin her. She was willing to let him take his anger out on her, if only because she knew she deserved it, but from the sound of things, his team weren't the only ones. If she wasn't careful, she was going to be going through Beacon with a target on her back, one that could spread to her team. Cardin seemed to only hate her, but there was no guarantee that it would stay that way.

Needless to say, if any of it spread to her team, she would take care of it. Similarly, if any of it ever threatened to expose who she really was, she would stop it. Cardin taking his pain and frustration out on her was acceptable, but him and his team would be the only exceptions. If anybody else tried to get physical with her, she wouldn't stand for it. A line had to be drawn somewhere, and she drew it there – anything else could be ignored, but not that.

Needless to say, this complicated things. The other students were definitely not going to make things easier, and if what Cardin had said was true, there were even more than she initially thought. She wasn't exactly scared, but she was going to have to be careful – by default, many of them already suspected her as being a White Fang member, and any wrong move could lend credence to that theory. If they got too suspicious, they might even report her to the staff as such, and she wasn't willing to stake her position at Beacon on the mostly-human staff being lenient towards Faunus, despite what the man from Mistral had told her. Ozpin and Oobleck seemed sympathetic to her, but all it would take was one professor with a chip on their shoulder to back her accusers, and it would be all over. Even if she didn't get expelled, it would find its way back to Weiss one way or another, and if the heiress ended up digging too deeply into her past…

At that thought, Red shook her head. That couldn'thappen, and if she played her cards right, it _wouldn't _happen. She was going to have to keep her head down and not make any waves until she was established as trustworthy among the staff, and she might have to deal with more of what Cardin and his team had just done, but the alternative was even worse. Besides, all of that had been annoying more than anything – compared to what Almost had done to her two years ago, it wasn't even worth acknowledging.  
That being said, she was going to have to establish some limits.

Taking a proactive stance towards such things was definitely out of the question, but self-defense was absolutely still on the table, especially if she was smart about how she did it and how she presented it to her professors. Oddly, a four-on-one might be the best-case scenario; students just walking around Beacon tended not to carry weapons, so they would likely be unarmed, which would almost certainly give her a big advantage. In addition, it was unlikely that in such a case the team would report her since it would both be very embarrassing to admit losing a four-on-one to a single first-year, and because them claiming self-defense in such a scenario would be ludicrous given the massive numbers advantage they would have.

And that was assuming that she even left marks to indicate that a fight had taken place. If necessary, she could always dislocate a limb or two, then pop it back into place before anyone found out.

Red let out a breath, then continued on her way.

Anything but easy, indeed.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, and soon enough, Red found herself back in Port's class soon after the next sunrise, desperately trying to stay awake. A small yawn escaped her as she rested her head on one of her hands. Once again, her sleep had been awful; she had woken up just after four in the morning, and that was after spending a late night in the library trying her hardest to do her homework and catch up in history.

Her teammates sat next to her, but she hardly noticed them. Her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion, and she felt extremely lethargic. It was bad enough that Red figured if she was to fight Pyrrha a second time, the redhead would utterly dominate her.

The wolf was tempted to try and fall asleep in Port's class, but unlike Yang, she didn't have anything with which to cover her eyes. Moreover, after Port had caught her with some notes the day before, she wasn't willing to risk incurring his wrath a second time. A frown crossed her face before it was cut off by another yawn.

Staying awake was definitely going to be easier said than done, especially if today was anything like the previous day.

The bell rang, causing Port to turn around. "Let's begin!" he shouted. "Miss Schnee, are you still prepared to demonstrate what I taught last class?"

"Yes, sir," Weiss said, rising from her seat. Red noticed that her rapier was already hanging at her waist. Clearly, the heiress was eager to perform.

"Excellent," Port said. "Take your place across from the cage and wait for my go."

Weiss nodded, then strode down to the center of the classroom and drew her sword, getting into a ready position with it. Red noticed that the heiress was taking care to make sure her stance was absolutely perfect, and was confused. Weiss wasn't really about to treat this fight like a basic training session, was she? If she focused so much on getting her stance right before even starting the fight, then she was going to develop bad habits, and that was only going to be a disaster for her when it came time to fight for real.

"Go!"

The cage door came crashing open, releasing the Boarbatusk within. The beast came running out, quickly spotting Weiss before rolling into a ball and hurling itself towards her. The heiress tensed, raising one hand to put down a glyph, stopping it in place. The Grimm began thrashing around, causing Weiss to grit her teeth as she focused all her effort to keeping her glyph maintained. She drew closer, her hand tightening on her sword as she did so. Then, once she was in range, she placed a glyph beneath the Grimm, knocking it upwards a bit and causing it to land on its back, exposing its unarmored underbelly to her. The heiress lunged forwards, intending to bury her sword into its stomach for an easy kill, but at the last second the Grimm twisted, causing the point of Weiss' rapier to instead embed itself in one of the monster's legs.

Then, before Weiss could react, the Grimm threw itself to the side, shattering the glyph holding it in place and tearing Weiss' sword from her grasp. Weiss' eyes widened and she tried to throw down a glyph to hold the Boarbatusk down once more, but she hadn't even managed to start forming one before it curled into a ball and hurled itself at her once more. The Grimm collided with her, sending her sprawling, before charging at her tusk-first. Weiss frantically reached out and grabbed its tusks as it drew closer, keeping it from doing any real damage. The beast thrashed in her grip, trying to free itself, but Weiss held firm.

Now deadlocked, Weiss took a moment to collect herself. Once the surprise wore off and she regained her faculties, she pushed the Grimm to the side, letting go of its tusks and, in the same motion, frantically forming a glyph to lock it in place. Once it was secure, she lunged forward to grab her sword, pulling it from the Grimm's shoulder without a second thought. Now armed again, she wasted no time in cycling her weapon's cylinder over to Ice Dust, then plunging the tip of her sword into the floor. A large spike of ice rose from the floor directly beneath the Grimm, impaling it through the belly. The monster weakly thrashed around a bit before finally going still, then beginning to dissipate. Weiss watched it disappear before turning back to her professor, an expectant look on her face.

Professor Port stroked his mustache, deep in thought. "...Somewhat sloppy, but acceptable," he finally said. Instantly, Weiss' expression hardened into a frown. "Next time, if you have the ability to kill the Grimm right away, just do it. It's best to leave the showboating to the professionals. Still, you performed well enough. Between you and your team leader, I'd say Team RWBY is looking very strong."

Weiss nodded softly, then placed her sword back on her hip and turned on her heel, walking back to her seat with her head held high. She was clearly doing her best to maintain an air of haughtiness, but even in her sleep-deprived state, Red could tell that it wasn't genuine; if anything, Weiss seemed more like she was trying to project the illusion that she had done well, when in reality she was anything but proud of herself.

Truthfully, Red understood with the feeling, having become very familiar with it herself over the last two years.

The heiress settled into her seat, not even bothering to glance at anyone else as she pulled out some loose paper and a pen and prepared to take notes. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Red staring, and fixed her with a strong glare. Red quickly averted her gaze, looking towards where Port was standing. Despite that, she could still tell that Weiss was doing her best to bore a hole through her skull with nothing but her gaze, as if daring the Faunus to say anything about her performance. Red, of course, had no intention of doing so, nor did she have any intention of letting Weiss know about the subtle comments and jeers the rest of the class was directing towards her under their breath.

Instead, she stared straight ahead, trying her best to fend off both her own exhaustion and the feeling that no matter what she did, it was only going to result in Weiss hating her even more.

* * *

The rest of Grimm Studies passed without incident, as did History Class. Filing into Combat Class, Red was prepared for a similarly uneventful final period; she had already fought that week, and wasn't expecting to be called out by Goodwitch. Once again, the biggest struggle was going to be not falling asleep.

"Weiss Schnee."

A few seats down, Weiss stood up. Red paid little attention to it; Weiss' fight didn't concern her in any way, and she was too out of it to want to pay any attention.

"Your opponent will be-"

"Actually, Professor," Weiss interrupted, "I'd like to pose a challenge, if you'd allow it."

Goodwitch didn't even bother to look up from her scroll. "Very well, I suppose. Who is it?"

"Red Canis."

Immediately, the wolf sat up bolt upright, her eyes widening. "What?"

Down on the arena, Glynda looked unimpressed. "Your team leader has already fought this week, Miss Schnee."

"I'm aware," Weiss replied.

"Then you should also be aware that I want everyone to get a chance to fight first."

Red breathed a sigh of relief at that. However, Weiss seemed unperturbed.

"Again, I'm aware," the heiress continued. "However, one of my teammates is injured, and cannot fight this week. That leaves one open spot for someone else to fight in her place."

Glynda paused. "...True," she admitted. "And given how fast we're progressing through the fights, we should get through everybody before Friday, anyway..."

She considered it for a bit before nodding. "Very well. If nobody else raises any objections, I don't see why not."

To Red's dismay, nobody else said anything. Frantically, she raised her hand. "I don't want to fight, professor."

At that, the Huntress raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you have any particular reason why?"

Red hesitated. Truthfully, she didn't, or at least she didn't have any that her professor would accept. Weiss had definitely managed to catch her off-guard.

"...I am very tired," she ventured.

Glynda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If you don't want to fight, the least you could do is come up with a good excuse. I was prepared to let you refuse since I would still rather have everyone fight first, but that excuse was so terrible that it warrants being made an example of. Congratulations, you just earned yourself a spot in the ring with your partner. Now stop wasting my time and get down here."

A small grin crossed Weiss' face. "Thank you, Professor."

She began to walk towards the ring, only for Red to stand up and grab her by the arm, stopping her. Weiss rounded on her, an irritated look on her face, which Red met with a fear-filled expression of her own.

"What are you doing?!" Red whispered.

"Proving a point," Weiss hissed back. "You've done nothing but make me look bad ever since initiation. Well, it ends here. I'm going to beat you, and prove to everyone else that I'm better than you, and that I belong here."

With that, Weiss pulled her arm out of Red's grasp, then continued on towards the arena. Red watched her go before hesitantly following a few seconds later, the whole time desperately trying to think of what to do. She didn't want to risk hurting Weiss at all, so her weapons were out of the question. She considering simply throwing the match, but there was no way that Professor Goodwitch was going to let that happen.

Stepping into the ring, Red's mind was still racing, trying desperately to come up with something. Unfortunately, she had nothing.

"Begin," Goodwitch called.

Immediately, Red felt her legs be encased by glyphs. Weiss came rocketing forwards a moment later, rapier pointed right at her. The heiress scored a direct hit on her, slashing her before being carried back by her momentum. Throwing down another set of glyphs, Weiss changed directions, this time coming at her from behind. This continued on for a few repetitions before Red felt the glyphs around her legs start to weaken. As soon as she felt the pressure slacken, the wolf took off like a bullet, using her semblance to speed away.

Weiss stopped, looking around for her. Spotting her, the heiress' eyes narrowed. "Fight back!"

Their gazes met, and suddenly Red was back in Atlas again. Weiss' angry expression was replaced with one of sheer terror, her rapier discarded as she curled up into a little ball and desperately tried to act like she wasn't about to die. Red could smell spent Dust and fresh blood in the air, the two stenches mixing together to form a nauseatingly potent cocktail of bad memories. The wolf's heart began to hammer in her chest. Suddenly, she became aware of a great weight in her right hand, and to her horror, she found herself clutching a blood-soaked scythe, the enormous weapon so coated in viscera that it was dripping down onto the ground below. Frantically, she looked herself over; she was covered in blood from head to toe, some of it her own but most of it from others.

Something struck her in the head, and the scene suddenly shattered. Just like that, she was back at Beacon, her scythe and the blood nowhere to be found. Weiss was there, in fact she was in the process of stabbing at Red with a flurry of strikes, but her terror had faded, replaced with determination and anger.

Immediately, Red became aware of the fact that she was in the process of dodging Weiss' strikes, and with mounting horror realized that one of her hands had drifted to her lower back, where her scythe was resting. With no small amount of fear and disgust, the ex-assassin instantly let her hand drop down to her side, instead concentrating on the fight.

She dodged another stab towards her face, and again her gaze met Weiss'. Red's vision began to distort, the combat arena suddenly beginning to fill with snow and the smell of fresh blood becoming readily apparent, causing her to roughly shake her head, clearing it all away. She _had _to end this fight immediately. If she didn't, there was no telling what could happen.

Weiss came in for another stab, but this time Red didn't just dodge. Instead, she sidestepped it, catching hold of the heiress' wrist and kicking her legs out from under her, applying just the right amount of leverage to force her to drop her rapier. The wolf was on her in an instant, forcing her to the ground and locking her in a tight chokehold. Weiss tried to struggle, doing her best to throw down a glyph, but whenever she moved, Red simply tightened her grip and applied some torque to her neck, causing her just enough discomfort that it was impossible for the heiress to focus on using her semblance.

"Yield," Red said softly, doing her best to keep her voice from betraying that nothing was right.

Weiss ignored her, instead continuing to struggle. Red again grabbed her head and twisted, causing the heiress' aura to flare up to hold everything in place.

"Please, yield," Red repeated. "I don't want to have to choke you out. Please."

Still, the older girl refused. Red hung her head, reluctantly accepting the heiress' decision, and tightened her grip even further.

She held Weiss there for what felt like years but what actually couldn't have been more than a minute, the Atlesian girl struggling the whole time. Finally, the buzzer sounded, indicating the match was over. Red instantly released her, causing Weiss to fall forwards onto her hands and knees. She quickly picked herself up, rubbing at her neck before sending her team leader the most spiteful look she ever had. Red met it for a fraction of a second before looking down at the floor in shame.

"Miss Canis is the winner," Goodwitch announced. "Good work, Miss Canis. Miss Schnee, perhaps it would do you well to study hand-to-hand combat – after all, we often face enemies besides the Grimm, and it wouldn't do to be killed because you didn't know how to do a simple hold escape. You may both return to your seats."

Weiss didn't wait for further instruction. Instead, she simply picked up her rapier, hooked it onto her waist, and strode back to her seat, her head again held high. Red followed behind her, making sure to keep a fair amount of distance between them. As she walked, the wolf could make out some of the things a few of her classmates were whispering about Weiss under their breath, each one sending a bolt of guilt lancing through her.

Settling into her seat, Red slumped backwards, not even bothering to pretend like she was paying attention to the fight that had just started down in the arena. She suddenly felt exhausted, and this time she was positive that it had nothing to do with sleep deprivation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Blake and Yang looking at her, the former with sympathy and the latter with curiosity. Clearly, they had caught on to the fact that there was something odd about the fight, but neither one was going to get an answer from her about it.

Soon enough, the bell rang. Red wasted no time in speeding away once again, this time pushing her semblance to the max.

Anything to keep Weiss from having to be near a monster like her.

* * *

She didn't know why she was searching for her teammate. Everything was telling at her that it was a waste of time for what she had planned, that she had to turn back if she wanted to keep everyone at a distance. But despite that, she still felt driven to do something. She wasn't sure what it would be, but she wasn't willing to sit idly by when she had the chance to make a real difference.

As she stalked through the halls in search of her team leader, Blake couldn't help but silently question herself. Why did she feel so compelled to search for Red when she was probably just going to head back to the White Fang once Adam was dealt with? Was there even anything she could do to help? Would Red even _want _her help, since she apparently believed Blake to be human? These questions and more echoed through her head, but as much as they drowned out her other thoughts, Blake did her best to ignore them, both because of how distracting they were and because she had a feeling that she already knew the answer to them.

That being that there wasn't any kind of higher calling or noble goal in mind. Rather, she was doing this simply to spite a Schnee. Was it petty? Absolutely. However, anything that pissed off the Schnee family was a net positive to the rest of the world. The fact that she would be helping a fellow Faunus as well was just a bonus.

Assuming that Red wanted her help and told her what the issue was, that is. It wasn't exactly difficult to piece together that Weiss was the problem, but Blake wasn't certain about the exact reason why. Sure, Weiss treated Red like trash, but Red's reaction seemed far too extreme for it to simply be that… and, for that matter, Weiss seemed to treat _everyone _like trash. Red obviously got the worst of it due to her heritage, but Blake got it almost as bad, and if the scene in the hallway during lunchtime was any indication, so did Jaune, though for the life of her Blake couldn't even begin to fathom why Weiss was acting so nasty to him.

Pushing that out of mind, Blake continued on. Tracking Red was proving to be a bit simpler than she initially thought it would, since the wolf had left a trail of rose petals behind when she had sped out of Combat Class. It was a very peculiar semblance, especially given that Blake could only ever remembering hearing of one other person in recent years who had a similar one, though admittedly her knowledge was limited on that subject, consisting only of key talking points she had overheard from other White Fang members.

Next time she was in town and had some money to burn, she really needed to pick up that book they had been discussing. It had only come out a few months ago, having somehow managed to escape from the creative limbo it had been stuck in for the better part of a decade. She had been meaning to pick up a copy as soon as it became available, but her sudden departure from the White Fang had prevented that.

Eventually, the trail of petals began to taper off. Looking around, Blake found herself outside the door to the roof. Panic flashed through her mind briefly before she pushed it aside; Red, as quiet as she was, didn't seem the type to do something as drastic as that. Instead, the ravenette steadily pushed her way through the door, relaxing slightly when she found her team leader standing in front of her with her back on the railing.

"Hey," Blake greeted, giving a small wave.

Red looked up in surprise, but otherwise said nothing. She frowned before letting out a sigh and looking down at the ground. Blake took that as her cue to move forward, eventually ending up directly next to Red, even copying her pose.

"Everything okay?" Blake asked carefully.

Her team leader grunted and nodded. Blake frowned.

"You don't seem like it."

"What do you care?" Red asked.

Blake blinked. Her question hadn't been accusatory as much as it was curious, which was a relief. However, that wasn't to say it completely lacked a bite.

The disguised Faunus shrugged. "I'm worried about you."

"Not Weiss?"

At that, she frowned. "Weiss and I don't exactly like each other very much, if you couldn't tell. And not just because of what happened during orientation, either – even if we hadn't gotten off on the wrong foot, we still wouldn't have gotten along."

"...Yang?"

"Isn't nearly as bad, but I'm wary around new people," Blake replied. It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Truthfully, Yang wasn't so bad, but she was still human.

Then again, she had mentioned that her half-sister was a Faunus, which was curious. It wasn't nearly enough for Blake to be willing to relax around her, but it was certainly interesting.

"Then why are you here?" Red questioned. "If you don't like new people, I mean..."

Blake's expression softened. "Because I can tell when something's wrong. I want to help you."

Red looked away. "...Don't need help."

"Forgive me for being blunt, but that's not what it looks like to me," Blake said. "To me, it looks like Weiss is treating you like garbage. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why that is. At this point, I can only assume that she's targeting you because of your heritage. Am I right?"

Red didn't reply. Blake frowned, leaning in closer.

"You don't have to take that from her," the older girl pressed. "If she's treating you like that, you can tell someone and they'll take care of it. I'd do it myself, but I don't know the specifics of what she's saying to you, so there's not much I can report."

"...She isn't saying anything to me," Red replied softly.

Blake blinked, surprised. "She isn't? So she's doing something to you, then." To her surprise, Red shook her head. "Then what's going on between you and her? Whenever you're around her, you always look-"

"There's nothing between us," Red announced sternly, standing up straight. "Whatever you think is going on, it isn't happening. She treats me the same as everyone else."

"Red, I know that's not-"

"I don't need your help, Blake," Red said, cutting her off. "Not with Weiss, and not with anything else. Please just leave me and Weiss alone."

With that, Red walked off. Blake watched her go in stunned silence, uncertain of what to think. She wasn't convinced at all that Red had been telling the truth, but she had no idea of what the problem could have possibly been.

Just what was going on with her team leader? Whatever it was, it had to have been pretty bad for her to react like that, especially since Blake was just trying to help her deal with a Schnee. In any case, Blake resolved then and there to keep a closer eye on her team leader.

She would be breaking her own rule in doing so, but if she could help out another Faunus, especially one who was clearly being tormented by a Schnee, it would be more than worth it.

* * *

It didn't take much to realize that the team was falling apart. Two of her teammates hated each other, one of those teammates hated the team leader, the team leader seemed to want nothing to do with any of them and was never around, and her partner didn't seem to care about her in any way.

Oh, and her arm and leg were broken, her ribs still ached, _and _she still had a mild concussion.

Those last four weren't directly related, but they certainly weren't helping.

Yang grit her teeth in anger as she limped through the halls, heading back to her dorm room. As soon as Combat Class had ended, the rest of her team had gone their separate ways. She hadn't even gotten a chance to ask Blake if she wanted to do something as partners, not that she expected the quiet girl to actually respond positively.

Honestly, the entire team dynamic reminded her of the stories her dad had told her about his team, with the caveat that they still weren't nearly as bad as Team STRQ had been. Frankly, she would have been impressed if anyone on her team had managed to top what her mom and Raven Branwen had done on _their _second day of classes. Apparently, if one were to dig into the floor of the arena in Combat Class, they could still find some of the damage.

Still, as far as dysfunction was concerned, her team was definitely up there.

Finally reaching her dorm room, Yang went to reach for the door before remembering that it locked automatically. Cursing silently, she did her best to find some way to hold onto her crutch while also digging around in her pocket for her scroll. Finally, she resorted to leaning against the wall, propping her crutch up next to her, and retrieving her scroll. She was just about to swipe it over the E-reader when she heard something from inside which made her pause. After a moment, she tentatively pressed one ear against the door. Listening in, Yang could tell that it was Weiss.

"Father, I already explained-"

The blonde couldn't make out what the response was, but it didn't sound good, if the snappy tone and Weiss' silence was any indication. Blinking in surprise, Yang pressed her ear against the door even further, desperate to hear more.

She had only known Weiss for a few days, but even she could tell that the way she was acting was strange. From what little she knew about the heiress, she was a firebrand, and tended to give as good as she got. It hadn't mattered who had started with the snappy comebacks, or what the context was; the fact of the matter was, if Weiss was arguing against someone, she didn't hold back even for a second. To hear her be left utterly silent in the face of someone else's tirade was very uncharacteristic of her. The fact that she was talking to her father only made Yang concerned.

The brawler already didn't like Jacques Schnee, but she decided then and there that her feelings for the man went beyond mere distaste.

Yang stood there pressed against the door for several minutes, listening in to the conversation. As it progressed, Weiss' protests became weaker and weaker, and eventually the heiress wasn't saying anything, instead simply sitting there and letting her father go off at her. The blonde grit her teeth as she listened in to it. Weiss was far from her favorite person at Beacon, but this was different. From the way she was acting, Yang could tell that this was hardly the first time this had happened. She may not have liked Weiss, but the heiress didn't deserve this.

And then, suddenly, she heard Weiss quietly say goodbye to her father. This was followed by the small chime of the call ending, and then by the sound of the scroll being gently placed on one of the desks.

And then, seconds later, by a small sob.

Yang had heard enough. She peeled herself off of the door, then reached for her crutch. Making sure to be as loud as possible, she pressed it against the floor several times, trying to simulate the sound of herself approaching the door. Inside the room, she heard Weiss begin to quickly move, no doubt trying her best to put things back in order and clean herself up. Yang made sure to give her plenty of time before swiping her scroll over the E-reader and stepping into the room, then shutting the door behind her.

Their eyes met. Weiss was sitting on her bed, her binder full of notes in her lap. Yang noticed that she had done an incredible job of cleaning herself up. In fact, she didn't look like she had just been crying at all.

Definitely not the first time, then.

Doing her best not to let the sudden pang of sympathy show on her face, Yang instead rose her arm in greeting.

"'Sup?"

This was the wrong move, as that arm held her crutch. She began to wobble, quickly slamming her crutch back down onto the ground, only to find that it was unnecessary as Weiss had thrown down a glyph to prop her up.

"Try to be more careful," the heiress said sharply. "I can't be there to hold your hand all the time."

She was honestly too good at this. In a matter of seconds, she had managed to go from extremely vulnerable to the same old cold-heartedness Yang had come to expect of her over the last few days.

Mentally, Yang made a note to knock a few of Jacques' teeth out if their paths ever crossed.

Not letting any of her disgust reveal itself, Yang instead nodded appreciatively before limping over to her bed. Gingerly, she took a seat on it, then set her crutch aside and took a breath.

There was still a talk that she had to have with Weiss. It wasn't the one she wanted to be having after overhearing her talk with her father, but somehow Yang doubted that Weiss would appreciate her revealing what she knew about that.

Turning to face the heiress, Yang was careful not to allow even a small hint that she had just been eavesdropping leak through. "We need to talk."

Weiss didn't react visually, instead continuing to leaf through her notes. "Oh? And what about, exactly?"

"You and Red."

She paused, turning to give Yang an irritated look. "There's nothing to discuss there."

"I disagree. There's something going on between you two, and it's affecting the rest of the team. I want to know what it is."

"There isn't anything going on between us," the heiress replied harshly. "I don't like her, and she doesn't like me. There's nothing else beyond that."

"I don't believe that," Yang said. "I know you've seen the way she looks at you. That's not distaste, or hatred – it's fear. She's afraid of you."

"Or my family, perhaps. It's utterly irrational, but there isn't much I can do about it."

"You could start by showing her that you're not like what she thinks you are."

"And why would I do that?"

The blonde sighed, doing her best not to sound irritated. Doing so was getting harder by the second. "Because she's your partner, your teammate, and your team leader."

"She's not the partner I wanted, nor the teammate I wanted, nor the team leader I wanted."

"No, but she's the one you have, and unless one of you drops out or gets expelled, that's not going to change."

"Optimistic of you to assume that she won't drop out or get expelled."

Alright, that was enough. "Why do you hate her, anyway?" Yang asked, almost shouting. "Huh? What did she ever do to you?"

Ever the firebrand, Weiss matched her tone. "She has been nothing but a thorn in my side since I arrived here! Whether it's knocking my things over or stealing my spot as team leader, everything that's gone wrong here so far is her fault! I have spent all day every day since orientation being humiliated by her in some way, and I'm tired of it! Excuse me for not wanting to deal with someone who constantly makes me look bad, and who doesn't care one bit about how I have to deal with it!"

Yang paused, stunned. "...What are you talking about?"

Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. "Forget it. Not like you care, anyway. You'd just take her side."

"No, tell me. I'll listen."

"Oh, like you did yesterday? No, thanks." The heiress turned back to her notes.

Yang ground her teeth together. "I'm trying to help you."

"I don't need your help," Weiss replied, her voice now controlled but no less venomous. "I am perfectly fine on my own."

Finally, Yang threw up her one good hand in frustration. "You're unbelievable! You spent yesterday morning complaining about how nobody wanted to give you a chance, yet when I decide to actually sit down and listen to what you have to say, you spit in my face! Have you stopped to think for even a second about how all the stuff you were complaining about yesterday could at least partially be your fault? Sure, Blake is to blame for a lot of it too, but you're hardly innocent yourself!"

Gathering her crutch, Yang shakily rose to her feet. "I'm done with you right now. When you decide to stop being a baby and come talk to me, I'll be waiting. I'll even give you the chance you wanted so bad yesterday, despite the fact that you don't seem to want it now. Just remember that nobody is ever going to help you if you don't want to accept their help in the first place."

With that, Yang turned and walked out of the door, not even bothering to glance back at her teammate. A growl of frustration escaped her, and she felt her hair begin to heat up. She _really _wanted to go lift weights right now, but that wasn't possible in her current state. Instead, she resigned herself to walking around until she cooled off.

Turning a corner, she had to catch herself mid-stride to stop from bumping into someone. To her surprise, it was Blake. The ravenette took one look at her and began to walk off.

"Hey, wait up!" Yang called out.

To her relief, Blake hesitated slightly before turning towards her. "What do you want?"

"Where are you headed?"

"Library."

"Oh, that's cool. So, where'd you run off to after class? You looked like you were following Red."

Blake breathed deeply. "For your information, I was."

"Was it about her and Weiss?'

"...How did you-"

"Ah, I kind of just got done having a talk with Weiss about that, actually," Yang said. She moved to rub the back of her head, but caught herself before the leg of her crutch had completely left the floor. "I wish I could say it went well."

"You're wasting your time with her," Blake replied.

Yang frowned. "I know you two don't see eye-to-eye, but-"

"That's putting it lightly."

"But it's still something we can address. I mean, Weiss is being a bit difficult at the moment, but maybe I could sit down with Red."

"Red is fine," Blake said harshly.

Yang gave her a confused look. "You sure? Because earlier, she seemed-"

"She's as fine as she can be at the moment. She doesn't need your help, and she doesn't need someone trying to push her and Weiss together."

"But we're a team-"

"The three of us, maybe," Blake interrupted. "Weiss can go her own way for all I care. We'd be better off without her."

Yang didn't get to respond, as Blake took that moment to turn and head off in the opposite direction. Frustrated, Yang watched her go. The ravenette disappeared around a corner, and Yang finally hit her breaking point. Enraged, the blonde felt her hair ignite. Desperate for something to channel her anger into, Yang wasted no time in punching a hole in the nearest portion of drywall she could find with an angry shout.

She stood there for a moment, her fist embedded in the wall, before roughly removing it. The brawler slumped against the wall, then slid down it.

Her team was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do about it. Nobody else seemed to care, and every single one of them was actively avoiding everyone else. At the rate things were going, there wouldn't even _be _a Team RWBY by the end of the week.

Yang sighed, feeling her semblance deactivate. She steadily rose up, then reached for her crutch and began limping towards the locker room. She had promised to save the bottle of sweet rum she had smuggled in for a special occasion, but right now all she cared about was drowning her sorrows.

Only this team could make her want to drink herself into a coma on any day besides Halloween.

* * *

**Full disclosure: this chapter officially marks the start of what I'm going to call the Beacon Arc. This arc is going to be very focused on the interpersonal relationships within Team RWBY, as well as on Red and Weiss' ****various**** trauma****s, with a few smaller things on the side****. Action is going to be taking a backseat for a while, though things are going to eventually pick up. For now though, I'm going to have my hands full simply trying to stop these four from strangling each other ****in their sleep. ****My goal is to have this arc wrapped up within eight or nine chapters before starting to really take things in a different direction, but until then, please bear with me, as trying to develop these four is going to take a lot of time and effort.  
**

**To expand a bit on what the Beacon Arc will contain: in lieu of a lot of action, the focus is going to be mostly on developing the various interpersonal relationships and friendships these characters will need. There will still be action (ideally, I would want to include one fight scene a chapter, even if it's just a spar, in order to mix things up), but for most part it will be a secondary concern. Later on, this will change, but for now I want to really focus on trying to push these characters together.**

**Besides that, we're starting things off a bit small in terms of Team RWBY's difficulties - minor arguments and stuff like that, but it's symptomatic of a larger problem. I'm going to be spending some time developing how these characters don't like each other, so for now I'm keeping it a bit simple, though it won't stay that way for long. **

**Aside from that, next chapter is going to introduce some new characters that you'll all recognize. I have some stuff planned for them, with a bit more planned for one in particular, but the cast is definitely going to be expanding a bit with the next update. I won't reveal who they are exactly, but trust me when I say that you're already familiar with them even if they have yet to appear in this story (they're not OCs). Hopefully I'm able to do them justice.**

**Next update: Saturday, March 14th.**


	9. Chapter 9

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 9

* * *

Friday came without incident, with the only thing of note happening being Yang waking up looking very sick one morning. Red was very worried about her, butYang had assured everybody that she was fine, and thankfully whatever illness she had been afflicted with had cleared up by the next morning.

It was a relief for Red, who had had bad flashbacks of when Yang had almost died due to a mysterious sickness ten years ago.

Still, that aside, nothing interesting happened. Classes were the same as always – Port was long-winded and useless, Oobleck was passionate about his subject, Goodwitch was strict, and the other classes were hardly worth mentioning, if she was being honest; Dust Chemistry was exactly what it promised, Math was something she was already mostly familiar with due to her role as a sniper, and her Leadership Seminar seemed about as useless as Port's class.

Besides that, her team was still avoiding each other, which was perfectly fine. Blake kept giving her sideways glances, which she did her best to ignore. Yang seemed to be getting more stressed every day, though she had no idea why. Weiss was Weiss. All in all, nothing had really changed.

Oh, and there hadn't been any further incidents with Cardin and his team since the one a few days ago. They had been keeping an eye on her like they had promised, and in addition she had spotted several other groups of students watching her from afar, but nobody had actually approached her and tried anything. She found this acceptable; if they were willing to leave her alone, she was willing to return the favor.

As she sat in Combat Class, the wolf anxiously stared at the clock. Today, she was going to have her first session with Ozpin after class was over. It was somewhat nerve-racking to think about since she had no idea what it would consist of, but whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than what Almost had put her through.

That didn't stop her from worrying, though.

Finally, the bell rang. Red promptly rose from her seat, taking off before anyone had a chance to speak with her, not that any of them would. Once she was satisfied with the distance she had put between herself and her team, she allowed herself to slow down a bit. There was still a little bit of time before she had to go see Ozpin, and she was honestly unsure about what to do with it. There wasn't enough to really get started on her homework, nor was there enough to go to the gym or practice with her weapons. Getting food was an option, but it was too early for that – the cafeteria wouldn't start serving the really good food for a few more hours, and try as she might to resist, that was too alluring to pass up in favor of eating sooner.

With nothing better to do, Red resigned herself to walking around campus for a bit. If Almost ever tried getting to her while she was in school, it would pay to know where all the good hiding spots and ambush points were. She had been putting off doing so due to the fact that such an event was unlikely to ever happen, but in the absence of anything else to do, there was no reason to avoid it any further.

Walking around, Red was struck by just how strange everything looked. Beacon was unique in that most of the architecture seemed to serve no purpose other than looking nice. Back on Menagerie, aesthetics were secondary to function out of necessity, since there was only so much space for the rapidly-growing Faunus population there to make use of. Atlas, meanwhile, was so heavily militarized that even its civilian buildings were constructed like fortresses; its military outposts and bases had been no exception to this. Even the cities in Vale and Mistral had been designed around the possibility of a Grimm attack; they weren't too big, and the important facilities like the Council chambers, police stations, and hospitals were all sturdy enough to survive a basic Grimm assault. Beacon, meanwhile, had none of that, or at least it clearly hadn't been designed like that on purpose. At best, she could maybe convert the upper levels and roofs of some of the buildings into sniper perches or machine gun nests, but the campus had clearly not been designed with practicality in mind.

It was all very confusing. Her limited interactions with other students had shown her that Huntsmen cared more for form over function, but she'd had no idea that that would extend even to their architecture, especially given how worthless form was in a real fight.

Having finished her rounds of the campus, Red took another look at her scroll. Seeing that she had managed to burn up quite a bit of time, the former White Fang member decided to head for Ozpin's office. It was still early, but she was used to sitting behind a scope for hours at a time waiting for a target. Fifteen minutes would be boring, but ultimately nothing compared to that.

Red turned around and began to head over to Ozpin's office. Currently, she was on the other side of campus, near the fourth-year dorms… which, she noticed, appeared to be a lot bigger and nicer than the first-year dorms. Perks of being more experienced, she supposed.

As she walked, Red realized that her path would lead her close to where the gardens were, which made her hesitate. She wasn't one to spend a lot of time appreciating the finer things in life, but she still had a little time to kill, and it wasn't like she had anything better to do… and, if she was being honest with herself, it _had _been a little relaxing the first time she had done it back during orientation. Maybe it could help clear her head a bit? She wouldn't know unless she tried. That was enough to convince her to make a detour towards the gardens for a few minutes.

As the assorted colors came into view, Red indeed felt herself relax ever so slightly. She had no idea why; perhaps it was just the thrill of experiencing something she had never had time to before. Stopping at the entrance, she leaned in to examine a pink flower, which a nearby sign helpfully informed her was called a begonia.

Her peace only lasted for a few moments before she became acutely aware of the fact that she wasn't alone.

"Stop it!"

Red frowned, standing up a bit straighter. Listening closely, she could hear what seemed to be a small struggle just a short distance away. Whatever it was, it wasn't any of her business. She turned and began to walk away, but was stopped by a few older boys arriving at the entrance. Seeing her, they shared a wide grin with each other before blocking her path. Red's eyes narrowed. Before she got the chance to tell them to move, she heard someone let out a small shout as they were shoved around the corner, then fell to the ground.

Turning around, she was met by a rabbit Faunus picking herself off the ground and dusting herself off, as well as another older boy who seemed surprised to see her there. Like the two in front of her, a predatory grin crossed his face.

"Friend of yours, Velvet?" he asked the rabbit Faunus.

Velvet looked at her, horrified, before shaking her head. "I've never met her before, I swear! Leave her out of this."

"We'll see." Turning to Red, he said, "You look new around here. You a first year?"

Whatever his angle was, it didn't warrant a response from her. The wolf stayed silent, causing his grin to turn into a scowl.

"I asked you a question, little doggie. I expect an answer."

Again, she didn't dignify him with one. His scowl deepened and he took a step forward.

"You look like a first-year, so I'll give you some advice: no matter how tough you think you are, you're nowhere near being able to take on the upperclassmen," he said. Nodding to Velvet, he added, "Vel here is a second-year, yet she couldn't hope to take on one of us third-years. I suggest you start talking before I get mad."

"Leave her alone, Colt," Velvet pleaded. She turned to Red, a desperate look crossing her face. "Please, just answer his questions."

Red took stock of the situation. There were four of them, but none appeared armed. All were dressed in their school uniforms, meaning there was no armor to worry about. Three of them were blocking the way out, and one of them was blocking further entry into the gardens. However she looked at it, there was likely going to be a fight if she tried to just run away. But she had faced worse odds before, and unlike them, she had all her weapons on her, having just come out of Combat Class.

Despite that, she wanted to do her best to avoid a confrontation if possible.

Exhaling, Red moved her hand a bit further away from her pistol, where it had unconsciously fallen. "I am a first-year."

"Yeah?" Colt spat. "Well, bit of advice – around here, you're nothing. As far as the food chain goes, you're the lowest of the low. You're barely even worth acknowledging. Only reason I'm even bothering to let you know about this is 'cuz of those ears on your head."

Again, Red's eyes narrowed. Cardin had been telling the truth, apparently. "I'll keep that in mind." She turned and began to walk away dismissively.

To her irritation, the three students at the entrance drew closer together.

"Geez, first-years have no respect for their elders," Colt taunted. "Guess we'll need to teach you some of that." He leered at her. "That is, unless you're willing to pay."

"Colt!" Velvet protested.

Waving her off, Colt once more set his predatory gaze on the wolf. "I'll call it even for whatever you've got in your bag there," he said, motioning to her satchel.

Red sighed tiredly. "What I have is ammo." She even opened it up and tilted it, revealing all the magazines inside to him. "Nothing valuable."

"Damn, that's a shame." From the way he sounded, Red could tell he didn't really think so. He shrugged. "Oh, well. Guess we'll just have to teach you a lesson." He smirked.

"That is, unless you want to call up your team and get a loan from them."

Red's eyes narrowed dangerously. "My team stays out of this," she replied, her voice low.

Colt chuckled. "Yeah? Well, we'll see about that. After all, if they're willing to tolerate having someone like you around, then maybe I should be keeping on an eye on them as well."

He snapped his fingers, and out of the corner of her eye, Red saw one of the three boys in front of her, the biggest and most well-muscled one, begin to step towards her. He cracked his knuckles as he walked, making sure to flex his biceps in the process. All of her instincts were screaming at her to run away, that a fight was still avoidable, but they were drowned out by her own anger. He had threatened to bring her team – her _sister –_ into this. And for that, she would make them pay.

Colt's teammate advanced on her, an arrogant look on his face. Clearly, none of them expected much of her due to her status as a first-year; if they were sending only one unarmed person against an armed opponent, that much was clear.

She proved how stupid that was by tearing her pistol from its holster and emptying the entire magazine into the boy's face. Then, as he reeled from the explosive rounds to his head, she closed in with her semblance, delivering several lightning-fast jabs to his crotch and liver. Feeling his aura break from her semblance-enhanced strikes, she delivered a final series of blows to his groin before promptly wrestling him to the ground, then grabbing hold of his arm and painfully extending it outward as far as it could go, both the arm and the person it was attached to groaning as she did.

The entire thing was over in a matter of seconds.

Seeing their friend be taken down so easily, the other three's smug looks quickly changed to rage. They began to close in, but Red stopped them with a single sentence.

"Come any closer and I'll dislocate his arm, then start moving on to other limbs."

For emphasis, she applied some more torque to the limb. Her hostage let out a small cry of pain as she did, which instantly caused all his buddies to freeze where they stood and look towards their leader, uncertain about what to do. Colt simply glared at her, gritting his teeth angrily.

"You think you're so tough?" he hissed. "This isn't over, kid. One of these days, we'll make you wish you had just gone with the punches. In fact, I'll make sure your whole team-"

A loud pop suddenly filled the air, joined shortly after by a cry of pain. Everyone watched in disbelief as Red dropped her hostage's arm and grabbed his other one. Once she had it in her grasp, she turned back towards Colt, her face one of sheer malice.

"My team stays out of this," she said, her voice dripping with undisguised venom. "Understand?"

The three stared at her in shock before it once again gave way to anger. None of them were willing to say anything for fear of setting her off again.

Against her better judgment, Red gave them an ultimatum.

"When you tell your friends about this, tell them that my team is off-limits. Anyone who tries to bring them into this will suffer a lot worse than this idiot did." She gestured to her hostage, then exhaled sharply. "Now get out of here, and don't ever let me catch any of you around my team."

Colt looked like he wanted to protest, but he swallowed whatever he was going to say when Red once again began to apply pressure to his teammate's arm. Wordlessly, he motioned for the rest of his team to follow him, and the three of them left without a struggle, though each one made sure to give her a threatening glance on their way out. Once she was sure they were gone, Red let go of her hostage, who shakily rose to his feet and followed after them, clutching his injured arm the whole time.

Red picked herself up, replaced her pistol's spent magazine with a new one, then holstered it before dusting herself off. She took one step towards the entrance when someone cleared their throat. Turning, she realized it was the rabbit Faunus, who she had completely forgotten about in all the excitement.

"T-thank you..." the rabbit – Velvet; her name was Velvet – said, awkwardly rubbing her arm. "I know you didn't intend to help me out, but..."

Red silently nodded in response, then continued on her way without a second thought. The whole time, she was kicking herself for even getting involved.

She should have never made a detour for the gardens. Failing that, she should have just walked away when she'd had the chance. In the end, her emotions had gotten the better of her, as had her protectiveness for her sister and her sympathy for Weiss. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that she had just made things a lot worse for herself by acting so hotheaded and stupid. Only time would tell if her team was going to pay the price for it as well. With every fiber of her being, Red hoped that they wouldn't; none of them deserved to be dragged into her problems.

And, if she was being honest with herself, she was terrified of what she might do if they were.

* * *

Weiss wandered through Beacon's halls, doing her best to avoid looking too much at the other students. It wasn't out of fear, or anything – she simply didn't like looking at them.

Too often, they reminded her of what she didn't have.

The heiress passed by a group of four, all of them laughing, and grit her teeth. Coming to Beacon was supposed to be an improvement of sorts – a way to both leave her old life behind as well as start a new one. She had hoped to not only make a name for herself and have a good team, but finally have some friends she could call her own.

What many people didn't understand about her was that she hadn't exactly had many friends growing up. Her father had been careful to screen anybody trying to get close to her, adamant that she should only spend time around those he deemed worthy. Far too often, this meant that he tried to force her together with the children of various executives and business partners, with no care given to whether they were compatible. Frankly, Weiss had gotten sick of it very fast – she may have been upper-class, but the things the other children were interested in were so dull, and if the people weren't completely boring, then they were only interested in using her to try and bolster their own reputations.

Needless to say, Weiss had quickly learned to shun people her own age. That kept her safe, but it also provided very few opportunities to make friends – at this point, her friends were limited to Winter, Klein, her fencing instructor, and some of her tutors, and even then she had only been allowed to regularly see a small handful of them outside of their allotted times.

As much as she hated having to admit it, Weiss had lived a lonely childhood, and despite what her expectations had been, Beacon was proving to be no different. Nobody here understood her – they didn't want to get to know her for her, they were only interested in her social status, both in the positive and negative case. None of them were friend material.

That wasn't to say that the blame rested solely on them, of course; Weiss was well aware that she was just as much at fault, though admittedly that wasn't entirely due to something she had done – her father screening her friends had left her few opportunities to try and make them on her own. In a way, as much as she hated her father's influence on her life, she had grown to rely on it.

The thought made her frown. She _really _hated that man.

Anyway, the point was, she was in dire straits. At this rate, it was going to take somebody coming up and trying to make friends with her in order for her to actually stop being alone, because between her own social ineptitude, her hair-trigger temper, and everyone she had approached so far not being genuine, there was no way she was going to be able to do this on her own.

And unfortunately, only one person had presented the opportunity so far.

'_When you decide to stop being a baby and talk to me, I'll be waiting.'_

Weiss frowned, then shook her head. There was no way she could rely on Yang for this – the blonde had openly admitted to being biased towards Faunus, and already didn't seem to like her. It would never work between them.

...Though admittedly, the idea was tempting, if only because Yang had been the only one to actually seem like she didn't care about Weiss' status. The heiress sighed.

Life at Beacon, it seemed, only got more confusing by the day. And not only that, but she was getting more desperate by the day as well – she simply didn't know how much longer she could take being alone for.

As she passed by yet another group of friends, Weiss had to admit that she was finding it harder and harder to resist thinking about Yang's offer.

* * *

"Thank you for coming, Miss Canis. I trust this time isn't too much of an inconvenience for you?"

Red shook her head. Ozpin gestured to a seat on the other side of his desk, which she accepted. Across from her, the headmaster sat, his mug of cocoa ever-present in one hand.

"The time is fine, Headmaster," Red reported.

"Are you sure? You still have your weapons on you from Combat Class. If you need more time to change-"

Again, the wolf shook her head. Truthfully, she had been in such a hurry to get away from everyone else that putting her gear away had completely slipped her mind. Plus, given how accustomed she was to wearing it, she barely even noticed it anymore.

"I have plenty of time, sir. I simply forgot to change."

"I see," Ozpin said. "In any case, it doesn't matter – Beacon has no rules prohibiting its students from carrying weapons on their own time. However, it is seen as common courtesy not to carry them outside of training or Combat Class. I think it would be better for you to leave them in your locker outside of those times."

Red nodded, though she didn't really mean it. Given how she had just antagonized an entire team of third-years, she wasn't going to go anywhere without carrying a concealed weapon, likely her knife – her rifle was obviously too big, and without the proper holster, her pistol would print against her clothes, making it extremely difficult to hide.

Ozpin leaned back in his chair. "Now then, we can get started." For some reason, he turned to his computer. "How are things going?"

Red hesitated. "...About what, sir?"

"Just in general," he replied. "Is school going okay?"

"Yes, sir."

He began typing something, though she couldn't see what it was. "Your classes are going fine? I understand that you do not have a formal education. The material is understandable, yes?"

She shook her head. "I am struggling with history."

"Really? Usually, students struggle with Dust Chemistry or Math."

"I have experience with both. My mentor had me making my own explosives out of Dust, and learning to snipe required that I learn how to do math in my head."

"Your mentor certainly trained you well," Ozpin said, continuing to type the whole time.

He had no idea how right he was, nor did he have any idea how much Red wished he was wrong. "History is difficult because it isn't something I was ever taught," the wolf reported.

Ozpin paused for a sip from his mug. "Well, if you require assistance, I am sure someone on your team would be happy to help."

At that, Red scowled. He must have caught it out of the corner of his eye, because he turned to her with a questioning expression.

"You are not getting along with your team?"

"No, sir," Red replied. "I think me being on Team RWBY is a mistake, to say nothing of my status as leader. I am not a good fit for any of them."

"Odd," he said. "I could understand you and Miss Schnee having difficulties, but from Miss Xiao Long's file, she seems like the kind of person who could get along with anyone." He paused. "...Well, almost anyone; if her permanent record is to be believed, she does not appreciate bullies and racists." Eyeing Red, he added, "And you do not seem like either."

The ex-assassin stayed silent. He seemed take her silence as agreeing with him, and continued.

"I am surprised you and Miss Solandra do not get along, either. You both seem to have very similar personalities to each other."

She shrugged, offering no comment in response. He eyed her, his expression unreadable, before adjusting his glasses and turning back to his computer.

"Okay, what about outside of your team? Have you tried to approach anyone else?"

"About what?"

"Whatever you want. Perhaps a request to train together, or study together. Or maybe just to talk."

Red shook her head. The only person she had ever considered approaching since arriving at Beacon had been Pyrrha, and the wolf had very quickly rejected that thought. She had no intentions of ever considering it again. Similarly, she had no expectations of anyone approaching her, because who would even want to? She had done her best to cultivate an image of being unapproachable for a reason.

Ozpin's expression hardened slightly. He finished typing something, then turned back to her.

"How about we shift gears a bit," he said. At her nod, he continued, "You told me a bit about your past when we were in the police station. Would you mind telling me more?"

The wolf blinked, surprised. It lasted for only a second before she regained her faculties. Obviously, she would have to go in-depth on her past at some point; there was no way she was going to get through four years of school without having someone ask about it at some point.

She sat up a bit straighter, shrugging once again. "There isn't much to report," she began. "I spent the first ten years of my life as a street rat in Mistral's slums, scavenging through trash and begging for pocket change to survive. As I got older, I started having to eat more, and there was no way what little I could scrounge up would cover it. I started picking pockets instead. Eventually, I pickpocketed someone who actually knew what they were doing. They caught me and took me in, then started training me to fight alongside them."

"And that was your mentor? Alex Azul?" She nodded. "Could you tell me a bit about your training? You mentioned being trained in sniping, unarmed combat, pistols, and knives."

"He wanted me to be well-rounded," Red replied. Unlike most of what she was saying, that part actually wasn't a lie, though the parts she wasn't telling him certainly gave it a whole new meaning than what it appeared to have.

"And you were how old when this all started?"

"Ten."

"And you are fifteen now," Ozpin observed. He took his hands away from his keyboard, picking up his mug with one of them. "Glynda shared the results of your spar against Miss Nikos with me."

Red felt a pang in her chest. Shamefully, she lowered her head. "I am sorry," she said, her voice soft. "Next time, I will do better."

"Better? I thought you did excellently, given who your opponent was."

She glanced up, surprised. "Even though I lost?"

He nodded. "You may not know it, but Miss Nikos is a world-renowned champion tournament fighter. She has been training for longer than you, and has almost certainly fought more human opponents than you have."

She did her best not to react to that, only barely succeeding. He didn't seem to notice.

"Despite that, you very nearly won. Miss Nikos has managed to defeat fully-trained Huntsmen with many years of experience over her, and in her last tournament managed to do so without ever taking a single hit, yet you almost managed to beat her on your first day in Combat Class. I was quite impressed by your performance." He cracked a small smile. "As was Glynda, believe it or not. As soon as her class was over, she came marching into my office and demanded that I watch the video of the match."

Red simply sat there unflinchingly under his praise. He looked at her, his smile steadily disappearing.

"You seem nonplussed," he observed. "Not used to receiving praise?" She shook her head. His expression hardened slightly. "Your mentor was not one for giving compliments, then?"

"He told me when I messed up and what I had to do to improve," came her reply. "He cared more for results than empty words, as did I." Again, not a lie.

To her surprise, Ozpin seemed to not like this answer. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

"No, you did not," he answered. "Your mentor..." he paused, searching for the words. "...Seems like a very hard man to please."

"He was not one for praise. Is that not common?"

"No, it is not," Ozpin replied. He looked her over once more, his gaze lingering on her arms, for some reason. "Tell me-" he began, before trailing off. Then, to her confusion, he shook his head. "Actually, never mind."

"Something you wanted to ask, sir?" she tentatively questioned.

He waved her off. "Just a thought that I had. Think nothing of it; we will get to it in time." He checked his watch. "And speaking of time, we appear to be out of it, unfortunately. Now, before you leave, did you manage to complete the task I assigned to you during orientation?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. "I spoke to three people, just as you asked."

"Did you enjoy it?"

She hesitated. Something told her that he wouldn't appreciate her true thoughts on the matter. "...It was better than some of the other things I have had to do over the course of my life," she replied honestly.

"Good," he said, seemingly uncaring about her less-than-stellar answer. "Then you will enjoy the next task I have for you."

The former White Fang member had to resist the urge to sigh. "What would that be, sir?"

He set his mug down, then interlocked his fingers together and leaned back in his chair slightly. A small grin crossed his face. "Before we meet again next week, I would like for you to make a friend."

Red blinked. "...What?"

"A friend, Miss Canis. Someone you can talk to, train with, and study with. I think having one would make life at Beacon easier for you, based on what you have told me."

"...You want me to get close to someone?"

He nodded. "Yes, that is traditionally what is required in order to make a friend."

"...I don't know how, sir."

"Of course you do. Why do you think I assigned you that task during orientation?"

Red desperately wracked her brain, trying to think of a way out. "...It can't be that easy."

"Well, obviously it is a bit more in-depth than that, but the basic idea is the same. You approach someone and talk to them. Find out what they are like as a person, what their likes and dislikes are, things like that. If you find that the two of you share some common ground, perhaps invite them to study, or train, or work out together, or simply get a meal together. Maybe exchange scroll numbers with them if you find that you enjoy their company." He paused to adjust his glasses once more. "You are a lot more capable than you give yourself credit for, you know. And I do mean that with regards to everything you do, whether that is as a leader, with your schoolwork, or with being social. I think the only thing holding you back at this point is yourself. Hence why I am assigning you this task."

"...I think you give me too much credit, sir."

He frowned. "We shall see by next week. I believe that you are more than capable of making at least one friend in that time, provided you give yourself the chance to." Again, he checked his watch. "Now then, I will not keep you any longer. You are free to go."

She nodded in understanding, then turned to leave. Just as she was about to press the button for the elevator, he called out to her.

"Miss Canis."

She paused, then turned back to look at him. He gave her a small smile. "I believe in you."

Red simply nodded in understanding, then stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close, separating the two of them. Once they did, she sighed heavily, then looked down at the floor.

"You're wasting your time..." she muttered softly.

The elevator soon reached the bottom floor, the doors opening to let her out. Once she was free, Red immediately made a beeline straight for the cafeteria.

Hopefully, a full stomach would help distract her from the fact that everything was going wrong.

* * *

Blake had never considered herself socially awkward. She was unquestionably introverted, but awkward had never felt like a good descriptor for her as a person. Despite that, it was hard to classify herself as anything else when she found herself staring at her team leader eating from afar, tray full of food in her hands and uncertainty in her mind.

It hadn't been her intention to meet up with Red for dinner, but she wasn't about to complain with the way things had worked out. Recently, the wolf Faunus had been avoiding everybody even more than she usually did, so any time that Blake got to see her outside of class was a blessing. If nothing else, it proved that Red's life wasn't getting any worse.

Of course, that left the matter of how best to take advantage of this opportunity. She didn't want to let it slip away, but at the same time, Blake had no idea how to approach her team leader after the disaster that was their conversation a few days ago. Red was incredibly quiet and protective of herself, enough that Blake knew that her team leader would likely get up and walk away the instant she sat down across from her.

Sighing, she finally decided to just go for it. She wasn't likely to get another chance like this any time soon, and unless she took these opportunities when they presented themselves, things were never going to improve between them.

Blake approached Red from the side. The Faunus' ears twitched at the sound of her footsteps, and the wolf turned to face her, dull surprise on her face. Blake nervously cleared her throat.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Red blinked, uncertain. She thought for a minute, as if recalling something, then nodded yes. Relieved, Blake settled down directly across from her. The shorter girl gave her a brief look before turning back to her food, nonplussed.

Her appetite suddenly gone, Blake picked at her salmon as she thought of something to say. Try as she might, she couldn't think of anything good to talk about, or at least anything that wouldn't get Red to pack up and leave immediately. Frankly, Red was so on-edge that Blake was afraid that even asking how her day went would be enough to set her off. So instead, she said nothing, the whole time kicking herself for not putting a bit more thought into this fiasco of a plan.

And then, to the surprise of both of them, someone quickly took a seat directly next to Red and kicked their feet up onto the table. Blake stared at her, confused, and behind the knee-high boots, was met by a pair of sunglasses, a beret, and a smug grin.

"'Sup?" the mystery girl said with a nod. "So, you two come here often?"

Neither of them responded, confused as they were. Blake was doing her best trying to figure out what this girl – this _human _girl – wanted, and whether or not she was going to try to harass one of the few obvious Faunus students in the cafeteria. Red, meanwhile, seemed completely lost, as if she couldn't fathom the idea of a random stranger coming up to say hello.

Blake didn't blame her, given that most random strangers who approached Faunus most certainly did not want to just say hello.

The girl's smug grin faded at their confusion. Lowering her glasses slightly, she glanced at both of them, her dark brown eyes beginning to shift to match their own uncertain looks.

"You two okay?" she asked. "'Cuz you both seem pretty on-edge."

"What do you want?" Blake asked, having to try to her hardest to keep the venom out of her voice.

The girl immediately held her hands up in surrender. "Calm down, will you? I'm just here to say thanks."  
"For what?"

"For what she did, actually," the brunette said, motioning to Red.

Red blinked in surprise. The girl grinned slightly. "Yes, you. Don't tell me you don't remember." This time, the wolf shook her head. The brunette's grin widened. "Oh, come on! No need to be modest about it. You did real good, you know?"

"What did she do?" Blake asked cautiously.

"She saved my teammate from a bunch of third-year assholes, that's what."

Blake was stunned "… She what?"

The brunette took her feet off the table, then leaned forward. "Oh, yes. She happened to stumble across a bunch of racist pricks tormenting my teammate for being a Faunus, and stepped in to help her out." She folded her hands behind her head. "From what I heard, it couldn't even be called a fight. She just broke one guy's aura by dumping a whole mag of pistol ammo in his face, then hit him in the 'nads really hard and dislocated his shoulder. Whole thing took like five seconds, if my teammate is to be believed."

Realization crossed Red's face. "Velvet?"

That earned her an even wider grin. "Yup, that's her. Velvet Scarlatina: rabbit Faunus, second-year Huntress-in-training, my friend and teammate, and one of the best damn Grimm-killers out of all the second-year students." The girl took her hands from behind her head, then offered one to Red. "Name's Coco Adel, and let me just say, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Red eyed the offered hand with apprehension before finally accepting it and awkwardly shaking. Coco looked extremely pleased with herself. Blake, meanwhile, was still trying to make heads-or-tails of the whole situation.

"Let me get this straight," Blake began. "You're saying that my team leader happened to stumble across some third-years bullying your teammate for being a Faunus, and that she somehow managed to not only win a fight with them, but that she completely curbstomped them?"

This time, Coco looked surprised. "Wait, you're on her team and she hasn't told you yet?" Blake shook her head, and Coco turned back towards Red. "Geez, you really _are _modest."

The wolf shifted uncomfortably. "...Don't like talking to people," she admitted. "Also didn't want to tell anyone; was afraid of getting in trouble."

The second-year's look turned sympathetic. "Okay, I see," she said. "Well, no need to worry about getting in trouble – it'd be your word against theirs, and no self-respecting third-year would ever admit to a professor that they lost to a first-year. And, if I can be honest? Nobody is gonna report you for defending someone else."

"...Didn't mean to defend her," Red said softly.

"Well, you did anyway," came a voice from behind them.

Coco's grin widened. Turning to face behind her, she waved to a group of three students as they approached. "Hey, guys! Glad you finally decided to show up!"

Two of them – the two boys – settled in next to Coco. The rabbit Faunus – Velvet, Blake presumed – took a seat next to Red. Again, the wolf Faunus shifted uncomfortably, her ears falling flat against her head.

"We told you not to run off yet," said the tall boy.

"What, and let her finish her food and leave before I got a chance to say thanks?" Coco asked. "C'mon, Yatsu; you know me better than that."

"I think they're lost," the other boy said, motioning towards Red and Blake.

Velvet chuckled softly. "Sorry," she interrupted. "I'll introduce everyone real quick. That's Yatsuhashi Daichi and Fox Alistair. I'm Velvet Scarlatina, though you already knew that from the sound of things. We're Team CFVY." Turning to Red, she added, "And thank you for earlier."

"...Please don't thank me," Red said softly. "I didn't mean to help..."

"Well, you did anyway. Maybe it wasn't what you had planned, but the result is the same," Velvet said. She shrugged. "In any case, it didn't feel right for me to accept your help and leave it at that."

"So, is that all you four wanted?" Blake asked. "Just to say thanks?"

Fox shrugged. "Well, we could leave it at that, but that wouldn't feel right."

Coco nodded in agreement, a grin spreading across her face once more. "Someone who does something that cool deserves something better, wouldn't you agree?" She turned to Red. "We figured we'd see if there's anything we could do for her as a favor."

To Blake's surprise, Red actually perked up. "There might be one thing..." she said.

Coco leaned forwards. "Yeah? Lay it on us."

"Can you tell me how to make friends?"

Everyone suddenly went silent. Coco's grin faded, replaced with shock. She slowly lowered her glasses, peering at Red from just over the frame.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" the second-year asked carefully.

"I need to learn how to make friends," Red said, seemingly unconcerned by Coco's response. "Ozpin told me I have to make a new friend by next week, but I don't know where to start."

Coco shared a glance with her team members, who similarly had no idea where to even begin answering that question. Blake would have disparaged her for it, but she _also _didn't know. Frankly, she was just stunned that Red of all people would ask a question like that. Here she was, thinking that Red was intent on being as much of a lone wolf as possible, yet then she goes and springs that on them. Obviously, Ozpin was responsible, but that didn't take a way from how unexpected it was.

"Well… yeah, I guess we can help with that," Velvet said after a few seconds. "It's kind of a weird question, though."

"Mind if I ask what brought it on?" Coco asked.

Red nodded. "...Ozpin wants me to make a friend, because I'm not good with people."

"No offense, but this kind of goes beyond not just being good with people," Coco pointed out. "From the sound of things, you've never really had a friend before."

To everyone's shock, Red nodded nonchalantly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Again, they all exchanged a glance, though this time it was one of sympathy rather than confusion.

Coco took her glasses off, folding them and hooking one of the temples into her shirt. She then folded her arms across the table and gazed at Red.

"Well, you're certainly full of surprises," she said cautiously. Her lighthearted, joking tone was gone, replaced with utter sincerity. "From the sound of things, you haven't had a very happy life."

"Coco-" Velvet began, only for her team leader to stop her by holding up a hand. Reluctantly, Velvet stopped herself from saying anything further.

Coco turned back to Red, sighing. "Look, I may not seem like it, but whatever you're going through, I understand. Haven't exactly had an easy time myself. That's why I want you to know that whatever you've got going on, you can come to me."

Horror suddenly crossed Red's face. "...P-please don't get involved like that," she begged.

The brunette looked to her in surprise. "What? Red, don't tell me you're pushing people away. That's the worst thing you could-"

The wolf suddenly stood up. "Thank you, but I have to go…!"

And then she was gone, sprinting away in a cloud of rose petals with her half-eaten meal left behind. Coco blinked in surprise, then let out a tired sigh.

"Dammit..." she said, rubbing at her temples. "Got too carried away again..." Turning to Velvet, she added, "Should've let you stop me."

"What was that about?" Blake said, her voice once again taking on an edge.

Again, Coco sighed. "Saw a bit too much of myself in her and let it get the best of me." She suddenly sounded very tired. "Look, I'm sorry about this whole thing. If you want, I can just leave."

Blake hesitated. She was suspicious, no doubt, but how much of that was due to Coco's actions and how much of it was because she was a human was still uncertain. Just going over the conversation in her head, it seemed like Coco had been genuine, though a small part of her was still screaming that it was all an act, that she should just let Coco and her team walk away and never speak to Red again.

...But at the same time, this could be the best chance to help Red out. As much as Blake hated to admit it, Red might be too much for her to handle on her own. The Faunus was clearly troubled in a way that Blake couldn't understand, but if Coco had been telling the truth, then maybe she would be able to reach her in ways Blake couldn't. It was still dangerous, since she would be trusting her team leader to someone who was still very much a stranger… but at the same time, if not Coco, then who? At least Coco seemed to be sympathetic towards Faunus, if what she had said and the fact that she seemed to really care about Velvet were any indication.

Looking up, Blake found that Coco and her team were walking away, the beret-wearing brunette looking very dejected. Hurriedly, Blake stood up and began to follow.

"Hey, wait up!" she called.

The four of them stopped, then turned back around, surprised. "Yes?" Coco asked.

Blake hesitated slightly before speaking again. "...Look, I'm not sure about you four," she said. "But at the same time, I won't turn people away if I think they might be able to help Red. If nothing else, maybe you can help her out with finding a friend."

Coco's expression softened. "If there's anything we can do for her, let us know. And I'm not just saying that because she helped Velvet – she's got something going on, and I'm not about to let anyone go through what I had to."

The upperclassman reached into her pocket, retrieving her scroll and handing it to Blake. "Let's exchange contact info. After that, I think it might be best if you go find her."

Again, Blake hesitated. "Are you sure-"

"Yes," Coco said emphatically. "Having been in a similar situation before, I can promise you that this isn't something you want to let fester, whatever it is. Go help her out before it gets worse."

Blake nodded. She exchanged contact info with Coco and her team, and then as soon as it was done, took off running after her team leader, following the trail of petals that had been left behind.

* * *

As it turned out, Red had proven to be impossible to track down. Blake had to hand it to her team leader – if the little wolf Faunus didn't want to be found, she wasn't going to be. Blake had searched all over campus for several hours before giving up. Of course, that just meant that Blake would have to wait until later, when Red came back to the room to sleep.

The ravenette had feigned sleep until she heard the door slowly open up around midnight. She sat up in bed, just in time to catch Red as she gently shut the door and turned around. The wolf's eyes widened and she quickly reached for the knob, only for Blake to frantically motion for her not to.

"Please don't leave," Blake whispered. "I just want to talk for a bit. Would that be okay?"

Red hesitated. "...Nothing to talk about..."

"Just give me a minute or two," Blake pleaded. "I swear, if at any point you want to leave, you can. I won't try to stop you. But just give me a chance. I promise I'll leave you alone after this if you want."

Again, Red hesitated, biting her lip nervously. After a few seconds, she nodded softly, then motioned for Blake to follow. Relieved, the amber-eyed girl quickly – yet _silently; _she didn't want to wake Yang or Weiss – followed after her.

The two walked for a few minutes before stopping in one of the empty study rooms out in the common area. Red shut the door behind them, then locked it. The room was simple, consisting of little more than a table and a few chairs; Blake pulled out two of them and took a seat, though to her chagrin, Red refused to move from her spot right next to the door.

"One minute..." Red said softly.

Taking a breath, Blake began. "I'm worried about you, Red," she said honestly.

"Why…?" Red asked, slightly surprised at how direct her teammate was being.

Blake felt a pang of sympathy, but didn't let up. Experience had taught her that if she danced around these issues, Red would just end up slipping away. "Because I feel like you're making a conscious effort to avoid everyone."

"...Don't like people."

"Well, sorry to say, but you're stuck being around them as long as you're here. Plus, you're the team leader. Your job is to command and interact with your team; you can't do that if you refuse to even talk with any of us."

"You don't need me."

"Really? Because we're kind of falling apart right now," Blake pointed out.

"...That's partially my fault."

"Why, because Weiss doesn't like you?" Blake shook her head. "Red, I've been there for pretty much every interaction the two of you have had. Whatever her problem is, you don't seem to be the cause of it. Weiss is just a toxic, nasty person to be around, especially if you're a Faunus."

The disguised Faunus sighed softly. "Look, I get where you're coming from. You don't like being around people, you probably don't want to be team leader, and you don't like being on a team with multiple humans, one of them a Schnee. But we're all stuck together, at least until one of us fails or drops out, and purposely separating yourself from everybody isn't going to change that. All it does is make things worse."

Red looked down at the floor. "...Why do I have to be social?" she wondered aloud. "I don't understand… I've been fine up until now..."

"No offense, but I don't think so," Blake replied. "I won't claim to know what your life used to be like, and I won't dig into it unless you want me to, but everything I've seen so far indicates the opposite." She sighed softly, rising to her feet. "Your education seems lacking. You have next to no social skills. You're desperate to try and stay under-the-radar, to an almost unhealthy degree. Whenever someone shows even the smallest amount of interest in your past, you freak out and run away. If none of that sounds like a red flag, I don't know what will."

On the wall behind her team leader, Blake watched as the second hand on the wall-mounted clock completed a full rotation. To her relief, rather than run away as promised, Red instead seemed rooted to the spot, unwilling to tear her gaze away from the floor but listening intently all the same.

It wasn't much, but it was still progress.

"Can I ask you something?" Blake asked. "You're free to answer if you don't want to, but I still want to ask." Red nodded slightly. "Is all of this a result of you having to deal with racism?"

For several seconds, Red was silent. Blake was afraid that she wasn't going to get anything further out of her team leader, but to her relief, an answer of sorts came in the form of a barely-audible whisper.

"W-why do you ask…?"

It was an answer in the form of another question, but it was at least something. "Because from where I'm standing, that seems to be the case. You're on a team with three humans, you're surrounded by an entire school full of humans, and the only time you ever did something to put yourself in the limelight was when you were defending yourself against a bunch of racists. Am I on the right track?"

This time, the wolf Faunus was completely silent, offering no answer of any kind. Again, Blake sighed.

"Sorry if I'm digging too deep," she said. "I don't mean to dig up any bad memories. I'm just really worried about you, and I have no idea what to do."

"...Why do you care about me so much…?" Red asked softly.

"Because you're my team leader, and I can tell that you're having a difficult time and could use some help," Blake replied.

To her surprise, Red shook her head. "N-no… I mean, that can't be the only reason..."

"What makes you say that?"

She hesitated, before continuing in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "...Because nobody else ever has before..."

Blake quickly paused, staring at her in stunned silence. Red shifted beneath her gaze, clearly unwilling to say more. Again, Blake felt sympathy bolt through her, along with a desire to learn more, but out of respect for her team leader, she bit her tongue. Instead, she took a small breath.

"I'm sorry," Blake said, after several seconds' pause. "I think I can see why you feel the need to push people away. But I don't think it's the right thing to do, Red."

"Then what do I do…?" the wolf Faunus asked.

Taking a chance, Blake put a hand on her team leader's shoulder. The smaller girl flinched, but to Blake's relief, didn't shy away or try to escape. Blake found herself being forced to bite her tongue in order to keep from expressing her relief.

"You need to start getting comfortable around people," Blake answered. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but there's really no other option. You can't go through four years of Beacon on your own, especially not when you're the team leader. And, frankly, I think interacting with other people would be good for you. That's why Ozpin is trying to make you do it, you know. He's not trying to be cruel, he's genuinely trying to help you adjust."

Red was silent once more, but after several seconds, nodded softly before looking up to meet Blake's gaze. The wolf's expression was uncertain and apprehensive, but it was still an improvement over the fear she usually showed when people tried to have these conversations with her.

"What now…?"

This time, it was Blake's turn to hesitate. She knew what the most logical move for her to make right now was, but it would be taking a huge risk. Still, if she had managed to coax Red into some physical contact, maybe she would be more receptive to it.

"You said that Ozpin wanted you to make a friend by next week, right?" At Red's nod, she continued, "Well, why don't you start right now?" Blake removed her hand from Red's shoulder, then offered it to her. "Hello, Red. My name is Blake Solandra. It's nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends."

Red blinked, surprised. She looked down at Blake's hand, as if weighing her options. Finally, she took a deep breath and accepted it.

"H-hello..." she replied.

The two of them shook hands for several seconds. It was awkward, somewhat forced, and uncertain, but it was a start. Finally, they separated, Red looking no less confused than when they began.

"What happens now…?"

"Well, I guess we're friends now," Blake said. "Usually, friends do things together."

"Like what?"

"Simple things," Blake replied. Privately, she was thankful her patience wasn't wearing thin just yet; Red needed this, and trying to rush things any more than she already had would have spelled disaster. "Maybe we can work out, or train together? I know you said you liked to do those on your own, but maybe at some point?"

"...Maybe at some point," Red said.

"Okay," Blake said, unperturbed. "Why don't we start even smaller, like by just getting food together? We can message each other and meet up in the cafeteria. Would that be good?"

At Red's nod, Blake couldn't help but grin softly. "Okay, that sounds good," she said. Peering behind Red, she felt the sudden urge to yawn, which she suppressed. "But for now, why don't we head back and get some sleep? It's late."

That earned her another nod. Blake's grin faded slightly; apparently, Red wasn't in a talking mood anymore. The older girl was uncertain whether that was because she simply didn't know what to say in response or if she was unhappy with the situation. For now, she would assume the best and hope that she wasn't wrong. Motioning towards her team leader, the two of them quietly crept out of the common area and back to their room, then began to get settled.

Lying down in her bed, Blake watched as Red began her nightly routine. It felt almost wrong to do this when nobody else knew about her night vision, but at the same time, it wasn't as if it was something she could just turn off on a whim. In the darkness, she watched as her team leader gathered up her clothes from within the closet, then retreated into the bathroom and locked the door.

Earlier, Blake had been uncertain about why Red seemed so adamant about only ever getting changed in the bathroom, considering nobody else did – Blake herself had no shame after living in White Fang camps ever since she was twelve, and Yang seemed to relish any chance she got to flaunt her body. Even Weiss, for all her sheltered upper-class prissiness, had no problem changing around her teammates, though she was quick to glare daggers and shout at anyone she thought was staring for too long. The last person that Blake would have ever suspected of being so modest about something so small was Red.

At least, until tonight.

Now, Blake's mind was coming up with far more sinister answers to the questions that seemed to follow her team leader. The girl didn't like to talk about her past at all, she seemed to have pre-existing problems with humanity that went far beyond basic racism, she seemed intent on keeping her body completely covered at all times no matter what… Blake was by no means an expert in psychology, but she had enough personal experience to recognize the signs of abuse when she saw them.

If that was the case, then it was no wonder that her team leader was so guarded. Of course, she had no way of knowing for sure unless Red told her, and she wasn't about to press her luck by asking. Red would tell her when she felt comfortable doing so. If she never did, then it was no problem; Blake had already accomplished her mission of reaching out to her, which at this point, was enough to keep the problem from worsening.

Briefly, it occurred to the disguised Faunus that she had broken her own rule of not getting close to people, but she pushed her discomfort and apprehension away by reminding herself that it was for a good cause.

And besides, maybe in time she would be able to convince Red to follow her back to the White Fang, if the wolf felt so inclined. It wasn't exactly a priority at the moment, but maybe at some point Blake would bring it up. The worst thing she could say was no.

The bathroom door swung open, and Blake silently watched as her team leader strode out of the bathroom. The wolf deposited her dirty clothes in her hamper, then to Blake's stunned surprise, retrieved a pistol and knife from her combat gear. Red clipped the knife's shoulder sheath on, then walked over to her bed, put her handgun beneath her pillow, and laid down. She was out within seconds, seemingly uncaring of the fact that she had just put a loaded gun directly underneath her own head.

Blake wanted nothing more than to get up and wake her, then tell her to leave her weapons in the closet. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to do exactly that before Red accidentally hurt herself. It was the logical thing to do, yet at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to do it. If her suspicions about Red were correct, then perhaps this was the wolf's own way of coping with her traumatic past. It was unhealthy and dangerous, but purely looking at it from the viewpoint of someone as maladjusted as Red, Blake could at least understand the logic behind it – never leave yourself unarmed, lest you be unprepared for when the monster came to find you.

As uncomfortable as it made her feel, Blake couldn't bring herself to do anything about it, not when it risked jeopardizing her newfound friendship with Red – it was a tenuous enough situation as it was, and if it went down in flames now, it was unlikely that Blake would ever get another chance at it.

Swallowing her fear, Blake closed her eyes and tried to do her best to fall asleep, the whole time pleading with whatever deities that might have been watching that Red's gun had a very strong safety.

* * *

Walking through the halls, Weiss tried her hardest to ignore the smug looks and whispered jeers sent her way. The weekend had been a welcome reprieve from it all, but once Monday had rolled around, her break had ended. Now, as she hurried back to her dorm room for some much-needed peace and quiet, it took all of her willpower to avoid lashing out.

"Is that the Schnee girl? Didn't she lose really badly to a Faunus a few days ago?"

"Serves her right; that whole family is rotten."

"There's no way she earned her way in with those skills. How much do you think she paid for a spot at Beacon?"

Everywhere she went, the comments seemed to follow. Gritting her teeth, Weiss continued on, hurrying towards her dorm room which only seemed to get farther and farther away with every passing step. More than anything, she wanted to turn around and blow up at everyone, to challenge them to a spar and humiliate them, to prove they were wrong and that she deserved to be there even more than they all did… but her father's conditions for sending her to Beacon were clear on the matter: she was not to do anything that could embarrass the family.

She was already treading on thin ice by not being named leader and losing so embarrassingly to a Faunus; she wasn't about to try her luck by challenging the wrong person and accidentally starting an incident. She was just going to have to bear it all.

Finally, she reached her dorm room. Swiping her scroll over the e-reader, she stormed inside, laying her bag down and taking a seat on her bed, then burying her head in her hands and sighing heavily.

The more she looked at it, the more coming to Beacon seemed like a mistake. Besides the fact that she had failed so miserably at becoming leader and impressing her professors, nobody liked her, especially not her teammates. At the thought of her team, Weiss let out an irritated huff. Red and Blake had started to get closer over the weekend. It was subtle, almost unnoticeable, but anyone who bothered to look for it would be able to see it. Given how much they both hated her, seeing them together hadn't been reassuring. At this rate, Weiss figured it was only a matter of time before they tried to get rid of her somehow. Whatever their plan was, it would likely succeed, since she was all alone at this school.

Unless…

Looking up, Weiss focused on the bed directly next to her, her brow furrowing slightly in irritation as she did. Disheveled covers, sheets strewn haphazardly across it, pillows in disarray, and stray blonde hairs everywhere… somehow, it all fit Yang perfectly, even if Weiss barely even knew her. The blonde was an absolute tomboy; she cared little for social graces, she was loud and boisterous, she enjoyed lifting weights a bit too much if her physique was any indication, she liked crude and groan-inducing humor, she was the very definition of uncouth and out-of-control.

And, if what she had said a few days earlier was any indication, she just might be willing to hear Weiss out.

The heiress groaned softly, burying her head in her hands once more. "I can't believe I'm actually considering this…"

"Considering what?"

Weiss jumped in surprise, turning towards where the voice had come from. Yang was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, her hair dripping wet, clad in only a towel. The heiress felt her face flush and quickly turned away, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Put some clothes on!"

"I would, but I forgot to bring fresh ones in with me, and I'm not putting my sweaty workout clothes back on. It was a simple mistake, I admit; I'm used to showering at home, you know? No need to bring fresh clothes in when they're right there in my room and nobody else is around." Weiss heard her take a few steps out towards the closet. "Why do you care so much, anyway? We're all girls here. Not like it's nothing we haven't all seen before."

"It's indecent!"

Yang chuckled. "Alright, Weiss-Cream."

"And don't call me that!"

The only response she got was the sound of the bathroom door closing. Chancing a glance, Weiss breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Yang actually seemed to be in there changing rather than playing some kind of asinine prank (she hadn't yet, but she certainly seemed the type).

After a few seconds, Weiss sighed again, this time out of irritation with herself, then pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Smooth, Weiss," she muttered. "No way is this going to go well if you can't go for a single sentence without blowing up at her..."

Idly, she realized that at some point, she had stopped considering it and somehow graduated to actually deciding to go for it. The thought made her pause. She wasn't really that desperate, was she? Surely there had to be someone else. Racking her brain, the only people that Weiss could _maybe _come up with lived across the hall, and that group happened to include Jaune Arc.

...Okay, maybe she _was _that desperate. How did that old saying about beggars and choosers go, again?

The bathroom door swung open, rousing her from her thoughts. Yang came strutting out clad in her street clothes, her dirty workout clothes balled up in one hand. She turned and threw them towards the closet, pumping her fist in victory when she actually managed to get them all in her hamper. The blonde then turned towards the door and began to walk away, causing Weiss to swallow nervously.

Now or never.

"Yang?" Weiss asked.

The blonde stopped, then turned to look at her in surprise. "Yeah? You need something?"

"Could we talk?"

"'Bout what?"

Weiss simply stared in response. Yang blinked, but after a moment, her eyes widened in understanding. To Weiss' relief, the blonde wasted no time in moving over and taking a seat on her own bed, directly across from her.

"Alright, hit me," Yang said. "What's on your mind?"

"...You said to come to you when I was ready to talk?" She had said it much more crudely than that, but the meaning had been roughly the same. At Yang's nod, Weiss continued. "I… I think I'm ready."

Yang motioned for her to keep going, and Weiss sighed. "…I feel so alone," she admitted. "Blake and Red both hate me, and I doubt that's ever going to get better. Nobody else seems to like me. Wherever I go, all I get is people staring at me like I'm some kind of sideshow, like they can't believe I'm even here with them. I can't take two steps anywhere in this school without overhearing some conversation about how I don't deserve to be here, or how I bought my way in, or how I'm pathetic, or how-"

Weiss paused, catching herself. She was ranting. Sighing bitterly, she slumped down in her seat. "...I don't know what to do."

"Start by ignoring all those morons in the halls," Yang offered. At Weiss' surprised look, she shrugged. "Way I see it, you proved yourself during the fight with the Nevermore. I'd like to see any of those idiots go up against that thing and not only live, but manage to put together a plan to ground it."

"...Is it really that easy?" Weiss asked, earning a hesitant nod.

"Obviously, they're going to keep talking about you until they don't have a reason to anymore, but who cares? They're not on your team; you're probably never going to interact with any of them, anyway. After four years, you'll likely never see them again. Why bother listening to people who you don't care about, who you will never personally interact with, and who will just vanish from your life the day we all graduate? All you're doing is stressing yourself out. The sooner you push them out of your mind, the better."

Weiss stared at her teammate. That… was surprisingly insightful. Huh. "...So, just ignore them?"

The blonde nodded. "Basically. They're not even worth paying attention to. The only reason they're singling you out is because you lost in combat class. The instant someone else comes along and performs even worse, they'll be the new target, and you'll be forgotten." She thought for a moment, then winced. "Actually, come to think of it, Jaune did pretty bad during his spar on Friday. Like, even worse than your fight against Red – no offense," she quickly added. "I'm pretty sure the only reason he's not catching so much heat for it is because Pyrrha is his partner, but once everyone learns how harmless she is outside of the ring, all bets are off. I mean, the guy tripped over his own shoelaces; there's no way he's getting out of that one."

Again, Yang shrugged. "Honestly, you shouldn't worry about what anyone has to say. The fact is, you earned your spot here, and that's all that matters. Eventually, they'll get bored and move on, so there's no point worrying about it."

Weiss let her teammate's words sink in for a bit. Admittedly, they seemed to make sense. In fact, she was almost wondering why she had bothered to lend so much credence to them in the first place.

Then she happened to glance over at the scroll on her nightstand, and she remembered why.

Part of her began to protest. Could Yang be trusted with what she was about to share? Weiss didn't know. What she did know, however, was that there was a big Goliath in the room, and she finally had someone who seemed open to just letting her vent about it.

"...That's not the only thing," Weiss said tentatively. "There's someone else saying the same things – someone outside the school, and who's a lot more important and powerful than everyone here."

"Someone you know?"

"Unfortunately," the heiress replied, her voice dry. "It's my father. And as much as I want to ignore him the way you told me to ignore everyone else, I can't. Not when he calls in and demands a status report on a weekly basis, and I have to tell him exactly how much I failed over the past few days, then listen to him berate me for it."

Yang held up a hand. "Let me just stop you there. First off, your dad's a jackass." Ignoring Weiss' surprised look, she continued. "Second off, he's just wrong. It's only been a week; he has no business calling in to chew you out anyway, but he especially doesn't when the semester hasn't even really started yet. He sounds like an unrepentant, self-important, control freak douchebag, and if he were here right now, I would absolutely punch him right in the stones, assuming I could hit such a small target in the first place."

Weiss stared at her in open-mouthed shock. What Yang was saying was outrageous. In all her seventeen years of life, Weiss had never heard anyone refer to her father like that; in Atlas, everyone was far too terrified of incurring Jacques' wrath to ever say anything so uncouth about him. Yang, meanwhile, had just rattled off a list of insults so nonchalantly that it reminded Weiss of someone reading through a shopping list more than anything. The very thought of it was ridiculous – Jacques had not only sired her, but he was the one in control of her future; the last thing she ought to be doing is laughing at him. Yang's statement was ostentatious in every possible way. It was vulgar, it was vile, and it was utterly reprehensible.

Unfortunately, as much as Weiss tried to deny it, it was also absolutely hilarious.

The heiress found herself forced to cover her mouth, desperately trying to hold in her giggles. "T-that's… that's n-not funny…!"

Yang smirked. Weiss braced herself, knowing that she had just unintentionally given Yang a blank check to do whatever she wanted. "Isn't it, though? What, you mean to tell me that the thought of someone just running up and smashing your asshole of a dad between the legs _isn't _funny? Not even a little?"

"N-no..." Try as she might to contain them, Weiss couldn't help but let a few snorts escape.

"You sure about that? I want you to think about this for a second – _really _think about it, okay? Imagine the last conversation he had, where he yelled at you over some trivial garbage that ultimately doesn't matter. Now imagine the same thing, only he sounds like an opera singer, because someone just ran up and punched him in the groin as hard as they could."

That was too much for her. Weiss finally stopped holding herself back, instead letting it all out for the first time in ages. It was the hardest she'd laughed in years; certainly the hardest she'd laughed since the incident two years ago.

After several minutes, she calmed down, wiping tears from her eyes. Yang simply stared at her, a smug grin on her face.

"Feel better?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes, admittedly, even though I shouldn't have laughed."

"Why not? Jackass isn't here."

"No, but still. He's the one in charge of my future; I have to treat him with respect."

"No offense, but that's stupid," Yang admonished. "From the sound of things, he doesn't deserve _any _respect, least of all from you. He's a multi-billionaire on the world's biggest power trip, and you're just another convenient target for him. Frankly, laughing at him is just about the nicest thing you can do, considering it sounds like he deserves an ass-kicking from you more than anything."

Weiss sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't even entertain the thought if I want to stay the heiress to the company."

"You'd rather let him treat you like crap than stand up for yourself, and for that? Does it really mean that much to you?"

The heiress nodded. "It does. That company was built from the ground up by my grandfather. He passed it on to my mother, and she turned it over to my father when she became pregnant with my older sister so she could spend more time raising her children." She frowned. "Unfortunately, that didn't last very long. But that's not the point; the point is that my father isn't a real Schnee, and he doesn't deserve to run the company my family developed. He's running the SDC into the ground, and I won't stand for it."

Yang blinked, surprised. "So you're basically planning to give your dad a big middle finger by taking over the company, returning it to your family, and undoing all the damage he's caused?"

Weiss nodded. "That's putting it crudely, but yes."

"I… guess I approve," Yang said with a shrug. "I mean, it's better than taking over it because you want a fat paycheck or something. I'm just questioning if it's really worth dealing with your prick of a father until then."

"Right now? No, it's not." Her mouth curved upwards into a thin smile. "But when the day finally comes that I depose him as head of the company and steal it back from him? Oh, the look on his face alone will be worth all the torment he's put me through and more. Frankly, I can't wait."

Yang chuckled softly. "Didn't take you for the rebellious type, Weiss. If I'm being honest, I'd always thought you'd be a bit of a daddy's girl."

"For _my_ father? No; I utterly despise the man. He is a reprehensible human being in every sense of the word, and somehow an even worse father."

Yang chuckled again, this time more heartily. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

The conversation tapered off after that. The two sat in silence for a bit, enjoying the sense of levity that had settled in the wake of their tangent on Weiss' father. Gone was any tension Weiss may have had; instead, for the first time in ages, she felt tranquil. In the moment, nothing else seemed to matter; Yang had given her the solution to one of her problems, and some insight into her other problem. That was far from addressing everything that was wrong in her life, but it was a very good start.

Yang suddenly cleared her throat, catching Weiss attention. "So, what now?"

Truthfully, Weiss didn't know. This time, it was her turn to shrug. "I have no idea," she admitted.

"I take it this wasn't everything?" That earned her a nod from the heiress. Yang exhaled softly. "So, besides just talking to someone, what did you want to get out of this conversation?"

Weiss was confused. "I'm sorry?"

"Just thinking out loud," Yang said. "Seemed to me like you wanted something else besides just a person to talk to. 'Course, I could be wrong; you're not the easiest person to read. If that's the case, then I suppose it's fine."

Now there was some food for thought. Was there anything else Weiss might have wanted? She didn't know, herself; truthfully, she really _had _just wanted someone to vent to. But now, after baring it all for her teammate, and learning that the blonde was far different than what she initially thought? Well, she was starting to reconsider.

A ridiculous thought crossed her mind, but no matter how much she tried to tell herself that it wouldn't work, that the two of them were too different, that there was no way they would get along, it wouldn't leave. Finally, the heiress sighed.

"Do you hate me?" Weiss asked.

Yang looked surprised at the question, but to Weiss' relief, she shook her head. "I was prepared to at first," she admitted. "I told you that my mom was a Faunus, and so is my sister; that alone kind of earned you a spot on my shit list. Didn't take long for me to reconsider, though; figured that we were all going to be stuck together for four years anyway and that maybe it would be for the best if I gave you a chance. If I'm being honest, you still weren't impressing me all that much, but now I'm not so sure." Absentmindedly, she began playing with a strand of her hair. "Why do you ask?"

"Just a crazy thought I had," Weiss replied. "Have you met anyone else around school just yet?"

"Honestly? No, not really. JNPR seems alright, but I haven't really had a chance to hang out with them just yet. Tried reaching out to Blake and Red a few times, but they don't want anything to do with me. Past that, I've spent most of my time trying to get settled and get used to using my crutch to care about doing much else." A smirk crossed her face, and she flexed her arm and leg. "Nice to be out of those casts, by the way. Still worth it to see the look on that ugly Grimm's face when it realized it was about to crash face-first into a mountain." She looked back over to Weiss. "Any particular reason for this line of questioning?"

"Just a crazy thought I had," Weiss admitted.

"Yeah? I'd be interested in hearing it."

"What if..." She trailed off, uncertain about how to proceed. Weiss had never been in a situation like this before; back in Atlas, anyone who she was supposed to associate with came to her, not the other way around. Finally, she decided to just go for it; Yang seemed like someone who would appreciate the direct approach.

Swallowing slightly to temper her nerves, Weiss continued. "What if we started hanging out? You know, like-"

"Friends?"

Weiss' heart skipped a beat. That felt weird to say, and she hadn't even been the one to say it. "Yes."

A smirk began to cross Yang's face. "Geez, it's about time you ask. No offense, but you're really bad at this whole 'making friends' thing."

Weiss' face went red, and she found herself sputtering. "T-that's not…! That's not what I…! Ugh!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "If you didn't want to, all you had to say was no!"

"Easy there, Princess," Yang said. "What makes you think I'm saying no?"

That made her pause. "...What?"

Yang shrugged. "I mean, after talking with you, you seem alright. We clearly don't see eye-to-eye on certain things, but frankly, we're both pretty lonely, we could both use a friend, and it'd be good to know that someone else on the team cares about us. Honestly, I'm just glad you're the one to bring it up; I could tell you were considering it, but I was afraid I'd have to steal your thunder."

The heiress huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Whatever." In a less irate voice, she added, "...So, friends?"

Yang's grin widened. "Friends."

Immediately, Weiss felt a wave of relief wash over her. She exhaled softly, suddenly much more at ease. Whatever happened, at least one person had her back.

And somehow, to her amazement, it was suddenly impossible for to even pretend to care about what her father might have to say about her choice in friends.

* * *

That night, Team RWBY's dorm was relatively peaceful. There was little noise, and little movement from any of the girls, with the exception of one. In the middle of the room, a lone figure tossed and turned, desperately trying to fall asleep, but failing miserably each time. Finally, she let out an irritated huff, reaching towards the nearby nightstand for her scroll.

_12:37._

Hardly the latest she had ever stayed up, but given how much she had pushed herself in the workout room earlier that day, it was definitely aggravating. Seeing that she wasn't about to get to sleep any time soon, Yang sat up straight, rubbing her eyes. Her gaze drifted over towards her nightstand once more, where her wallet was resting.

If she wasn't going to get any sleep, then now might be a good chance to indulge in a certain nighttime ritual she hadn't been able to partake in since leaving home. It was something she was supposed to have outgrown years ago; nobody but her knew that she still did it, and she planned to keep it that way.

Grabbing her wallet and quietly slipping out of her dorm room, Yang headed for the access door to the roof. Pushing her way through, she took a deep breath. The springtime air was incredibly refreshing, and the dim light coming off the shattered pieces of the moon was as pretty as ever. Creeping away from the stairwell and towards the edge of the roof, Yang pulled out her wallet, searching through it until she found what she wanted. Once she had, she put everything else down and focused on it.

Staring at the photo in her hands, Yang felt a bolt of sadness lance through her chest. It was old, and every time she looked at, it seemed like it was only getting older. The colors had started to fade, it had a crease running horizontally across its center, and the edges were slightly frayed. Despite that, she still considered it one of her most prized possessions.

Lilac eyes met young silver eyes, and Yang felt her breath catch in her throat. Swallowing, she began to speak.

"Hey, sis," she said softly. "Sorry it's been so long; things have been crazy around here." She chuckled softly. It was empty and utterly devoid of humor, but it was a chuckle all the same. "My team is kind of out of control. You want to hear about them?"

The picture didn't respond, but Yang was undeterred. The blonde cracked a small smile.

"Yeah, figured you would. Well, first off, there's my partner, Blake Solandra. She's pretty quiet; generally likes to keep to herself. I don't know too much about her, other than that she likes to read a lot and that she hates one of my other teammates. Yeah, I know – she's a real piece of work. But she doesn't seem too bad; I think she'll be alright once she breaks out of her shell. Aside from that, she did pretty good during initiation, and she seems smart. Unfortunately, I don't think she likes to lift weights, so I guess I'll have to find some other way to reach out to her. You got any ideas?"

A small gust of wind blew by at that moment, ruffling the photo in her hands. Yang frowned, then sighed. "Alright, alright; I'll just move on. Sheesh, you're impatient...

"Anyway, next up is Weiss Schnee. I didn't like her at first; she was kind of a huge jerk to everyone. But you'll be happy to know that I think me and her are going to end up being good friends – we had a nice conversation earlier, and at the end, we promised to be friendly towards each other. I think we'll get along great." The blonde smirked mischievously. "'Course, I haven't dragged her along to the gym with me yet, so I guess we'll have to see." Her smirk faded. "Too bad she doesn't like Faunus, though; that's kind of a mood-killer. I want to try and break her out of that mindset, but it's gonna take some time, you know?"

Yang sighed before continuing. "And speaking of Faunus, there's my team leader, Red Canis. She's… well, I'll be honest – I don't really know what to think of her. She's even more quiet than Blake, and doesn't seem to like people all that much. Then again, it might just be 'cuz we're all humans; maybe she just feels threatened or something, I don't know. I'd reach out to her, but she seems to actively be avoiding me for some reason, so for now it's a no-go."

The blonde hesitated. "...Plus, she weirds me out," she admitted. "She's a wolf Faunus, she has dark hair, she looks younger than pretty much everyone else in our year… yeah, I'll admit it: when I first saw her, I thought that she looked awfully familiar." The blonde sighed sadly. "'Course, that'd just be too good to be true, wouldn't it? Besides, personality-wise, she's nothing like you, sis. She's like your complete opposite – imagine someone took Uncle Qrow after a few drinks too many and turned his depression up to eleven, and you'd pretty much get Red. And I don't think I even want to consider what it would take to turn someone like you into someone like her."

Yang took a breath. "Besides that, you're both physically different – her hair is all black, and her eyes are green. Plus, as young as she is, there's no way she's only fifteen, not with her level of skill. I mean, she almost beat Pyrrha Nikos. Yeah, no way a fifteen-year-old could do that. Sad as it is to admit it, I guess my search still isn't over."  
Yang sighed sadly, bringing one hand up to rub at her eyes before glancing back down at the photo in her hands.

"I'll find you," she declared, her voice filled with determination. "I don't care what it takes, or how long I have to search. You're out there somewhere, and I'm going to bring you home if it's the last thing I do." Gently, she ran her thumb over her sister's face. "Sit tight until then, okay? Love you, Sis. Whatever it takes, we'll see each other again."

Yang stared at the picture for a few more seconds before exhaling, then gently putting it back in her wallet. With one final glance up at the shattered moon, she began the walk back to her room, suddenly feeling a lot more tired than when she had first left. Arriving back, the blonde took a few steps in before glancing over towards her team leader's bed. To her surprise, the Faunus' face was screwed up in an expression of fear, and she was shivering.

Briefly, Yang was reminded of when her sister had nightmares all those years ago, and couldn't help but think that Red looked somewhat similar to her. She was quick to push that thought from her head, though.

"Ridiculous..." the blonde muttered as she turned away, heading for her own bed. Placing her scroll and wallet back on the nightstand, she turned towards her new friend and shut her eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

That night, for the first time in several weeks, her dreams were filled with memories of her family when it was whole. And for the life of her, Yang couldn't understand why.

* * *

**Kind of a slow chapter, not gonna lie. Still, it was something that needed to happen, since this is the point where I'm starting to push the team together. Obviously, I'm going to be going with two sets of two for now. And no, I don't mean that in the shipping sense.**

**All that being said, we're now at the point where character interactions move to the forefront. Basically, the fun stuff starts here; I'm planning to take this idea and run with it. Expect to see a lot of more mellow chapters like this for a while. If you want more action, then I'll do my best to satisfy you with a spar or something every now and again, but anything more serious is going to have to wait. Until then, please be patient and bear with me as I fumble my way through these characters making friends with each other. **

**Also, I need to bring this up now, because in my haste I forgot to do so last chapter: Thank you to everyone who replied with answers to my comments about my long-ass chapters. I was quite surprised (but also very happy) to see that everyone who replied seems to like the way I do things now, that being longer chapters with less frequent updates. Hell, a few of you even requested that if I'm going to change the average length, that I make them _even longer _rather than shorten them! I will certainly do my best in that department, but for the most part it seems like you all enjoy the way things are being done now, so I guess that's how I'll keep doing it. **

**One last thing before I go: I was having a fantastic time writing all of the Weiss/Yang interactions this chapter, and I hope all of you enjoyed reading them as much as I did writing them. Seriously, I can already tell that writing the two of them is going to be one of my favorite parts of this whole fic. **

**Next update: Saturday, March 28th.**


	10. Chapter 10

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 10

* * *

"C'mon, lift it already!"

"I'm… _trying…!"  
_

"Try harder! My grandma could lift this thing!"

"Don't… push… me…!"

"If you don't want to be pushed, then hurry up! C'mon, only one more! You've got this!"

There was a sharp intake of breath, followed by a grunt of exertion that increased in volume as the barbell steadily began to rise. Finally, after several seconds of struggle, the bar came to rest at the apex of the lift, staying there motionlessly for just a few seconds before being unceremoniously lowered down onto the rack with a loud slam.

Furious blue eyes met smug lilac ones.

"Happy?" Weiss asked.

Yang smirked. "Congrats, Weiss. You managed to bench just the bar."

The heiress wiped sweat off her brow with the back of her hand before glaring at Yang once more. "I am quite happy with just the bar, thank you. Not everybody wants biceps like yours."

"Actually, bench press mainly works your pectorals, shoulders, triceps, and deltoids."

"Oh, whatever," Weiss said, waving her hand dismissively, though it only lasted for a split second before she was forced to wipe away more sweat. "Remind me again why you have me doing this?"

"You wanted some ideas for things to do together, so here we are. Not what you had in mind?"

"Not exactly."

Yang shrugged. "Well, it's good for you, so you should keep at it." A grin split her face. "You think this is fun, wait until we do legs tomorrow."

Weiss' only response was to groan. "You're not helping your case..."

"Do you have any other suggestions?"

"...What if I taught you to sing?"

"That's-" Yang paused. "...Actually, that would be pretty cool. Would you really?"

"Would it get me out of lifting weights with you?"

"No, but it would be fun to do when we're not working out."

Again, Weiss groaned, which caused Yang to let out a hearty laugh.

It had been a week since their little heart-to-heart, yet somehow it felt like it had been a lot longer. To Yang's surprise, her and Weiss had gotten on surprisingly well, despite their contrasting personalities and interests. Part of her had been ready to dismiss it as desperation, given how much they both wanted a friend and someone on the team to rely on, but it was quickly becoming clear that desperation had nothing to do with it. The two of them genuinely enjoyed each other's company.

Of course, it wasn't without its struggles. Weiss had her quirks, and as much as Yang hated to admit it, she had her own as well. Sometimes they managed to push each other's buttons, but thankfully it wasn't anything too severe, and it tended to pass as quickly as it came.

Despite her newfound friendship, Yang hadn't developed tunnel vision with regards to the rest of her team, however. Blake and Red were hanging out more often, and although Yang was disappointed at how her team of four seemed to have splintered into two teams of two, for now it was okay – two teams of two was still better than four teams of one, after all. But eventually, something was going to have to push the four of them together, and somehow Yang knew that it was likely going to have to be her, since nobody else seemed to be interested in it. And unfortunately, doing that would mean getting her new friend to confront some of her biases.

And if she was being honest, Yang wasn't sure whether her friendship with Weiss could even survive something like that.

"So, is that it?" Weiss asked.

Yang simply smirked. "You wish. No, that was just the first exercise."

Weiss' jaw dropped. "...You're kidding."

"Nope. Time for incline bench."

Yang turned towards where the incline benches were, only to pause when she saw a few familiar faces over by the squat racks. It was actually kind of a funny sight – Pyrrha was coaching Jaune on how to properly do squats, standing beside him and watching his hips to make sure he was squatting properly. Meanwhile, Nora was in the rack next to them, casually squatting a bar with three plates on either side like it was nothing. Ren was nearby, practicing what looked like a set of martial arts stances.

A thought crossed the blonde's head, and she found herself automatically taking a step forward before she stopped and reminded herself that Weiss was still there. Turning around, she found her friend reluctantly struggling to load a plate onto the bar for one of the incline benches.

"Hey, Weiss."

The heiress, upon hearing her name, took the opportunity to put the plate down, leaning it against the bench before turning to look at Yang in surprise. "Yes?"  
"Team JNPR is over there." She motioned towards them with her head, taking note of Weiss' frown when she did so. "Wanna go say hi?"

Weiss looked like she wanted to say no, but she must have seen how much her friend wanted to. Instead, she just sighed. "As long as it gets me a break from lifting weights, I guess..."

"Cool." Taking her teammate by the hand, Yang started walking towards Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Lower," Pyrrha gently said to her partner. "Lower... lower... stop!" She paused to examine Jaune's form. "Okay, good. Now lift – _with your legs,_ Jaune! Don't use your back! ...Okay, good. Rack."

Jaune lowered the bar from his shoulders onto the rack, then sighed. "Do we really have to use just the bar?"

"If you don't want to hurt yourself, then yes," Yang replied. When the two of them turned towards her, she waved. "How's it going, guys?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Very good, thank you. How have things been for your team? We haven't seen much of you since initiation."

Yang shrugged. "Eh, you know. Kinda still settling in and getting used to things."

"Ah. Well, we're certainly no strangers to that. Personally, I'm still trying to adjust to having to create my own daily routines rather than have them provided by my coach, though luckily I have Jaune here to keep me on track. Right, Jaune?" Pyrrha's statement was met with nothing but silence. "Uh, Jaune?"

Turning towards Jaune, Yang noticed that he was staring at Weiss, who seemed about two seconds away from blowing up at him. She frowned; clearly, she was going to have to do some damage control.

"Hey, buddy," Yang said with a grin, hooking an arm around Jaune's shoulder and gently guiding him away from Weiss. "How's leg day going?"

Blinking, Jaune shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Kinda wish I could actually put weight on the bar, but Pyrrha says I need to get my form right first."

"Well, that's the right way to do it. You'll look funny until you get at least a plate on it, but it's worth it to get your form right." She motioned towards Weiss. "I've got Weiss starting off on bench press, and she's only doing the bar right now."

"Which, again, I am quite happy with," the heiress interrupted.

"Only because you're afraid of getting shredded."

"It's a legitimate fear! I don't want to look like a gym rat!"

Yang sighed tiredly. "Weiss, you won't look like a gym rat just by lifting weights. We've been over this." She turned back to Pyrrha. "You see what I have to deal with?"

The champion chuckled lightly, causing Weiss to cross her arms. "You know, when I start teaching you to sing, the shoe will be on the other foot," the heiress said.

"You kidding? I bet I'd be a great singer. I sing in the shower all the time."

"And everyone leaves the room whenever you do."

"No way," Yang replied. Weiss gave her a blank stare. "...Seriously? Am I really that bad?"

"As my old voice coach used to say, you sound like the singing equivalent of a grade-schooler playing on a plastic recorder."

Yang actually winced at that. "Ouch."

A second passed by without her adding anything. When it was clear that Yang had nothing further to say, Weiss smirked, knowing she had won their little exchange. Yang smirked as well, though hers was because she had succeeded in distracting everyone from the awkwardness that was Jaune's obvious crush on her friend. Now, him and Pyrrha were merely staring at them both in wide-eyed shock.

"...Is this normal for you two?" Jaune asked.

"Pretty much," Yang replied. "What, you guys don't roast your friends?"

"Well, my old friends used to roast me," Jaune said.

Yang wisely decided not to comment on that.

Pyrrha shook her head. "My sponsors requested that I keep all trash-talking to a minimum, both inside and outside of my fights."

Frankly, Yang wasn't sure if that was the real reason or if Pyrrha was simply too nice to do it.

Weiss cleared her throat. "Speaking of fights, thank you for the spar the other day, Pyrrha."

The champion grinned sheepishly. "Oh, you're welcome! I had a very good time. Perhaps we could do it again sometime, maybe make it a team-versus-team event?"

Yang frowned. "Probably best to just keep it one-on-one for now – Red doesn't do so well with big groups, and Blake and I haven't had much of a chance to practice fighting as partners just yet. Maybe we'll give it a shot once Goodwitch starts having teams practice each other in class."

Pyrrha nodded. "Sure. But until then, would you be open to trying something else? Maybe just a study group?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Yang saw Weiss frown. Obviously, she was wary about spending any amount of time around Jaune. As much as Yang understood why, she couldn't bring herself to say no to Pyrrha, not when she was offering a chance for Weiss and her to meet some other people.

Still, Yang knew better than to make the decision entirely on her own. If Weiss was going to be involved in this, then she deserved to make her feelings known as well.

"How 'bout it, Weiss?" Yang asked. "Does that sound like something you'd be open to?"

The heiress hesitated. Yang watched as her eyes passed over Jaune, then to Ren, and then to Nora… who had finished her squats and was now, of all things, juggling three 45-pound plates. The blonde winced as Weiss' gaze settled on Nora; she knew that the odds of Weiss agreeing to do anything with her and Jaune around were low.

But then, to Yang's surprise, Weiss sighed softly before nodding towards Pyrrha. "Yes, that sounds grand."

Pyrrha grinned widely. "I'm happy to hear it! Let's exchange numbers – we can set up times to go study together."

The two of them exchanged contact information with everyone on JNPR before quickly bidding them farewell. As they walked back over to where the incline benches were, Yang leaned in close to Weiss.

"You didn't have to say yes if you didn't want to," she whispered.

"No, but I could tell that you wanted to," Weiss replied. "Besides, Pyrrha and Ren seem fine enough. If nothing else, it would be good to get to know the two of them better."

"I'll try and keep Jaune in line." Yang cast a quick glance over at him before turning back towards her friend. "He doesn't seem like a bad guy, you know. He just can't take a hint to save his life."

"And what do you suggest I do about that?"

"Have you tried being honest with him? And I don't mean getting mad and shouting at him or insulting him. I think you should sit down and tell him that you're just not interested – really spell it out for him."

"And you really think that'll work?"

"Trust me, I've had to do the same thing before. It works."

Stopping at one of the benches, the two of them began to pile weight onto the bar. "I guess I'm just not used to how things work outside of Atlas," Weiss admitted.

"That so?" Yang asked. The final weight was added, and she sat down on the bench, then reached for the bar. "Oh, and you know the drill – don't spot me. Don't want you to try and catch a weight this heavy and end up hurting yourself."

Nodding in understanding, Weiss watched with no small amount of awe as her friend began her set, though it quickly vanished once it became clear that Yang was perfectly comfortable with how much she was lifting.

The heiress sighed tiredly. "Anyway, like I was saying… back in Atlas, things are done differently, at least for people of my social standing. Ever since I was old enough to start attending my father's social events, I've been approached by people who thought they deserved a chance to get to know me better for no reason other than because they were rich or powerful."

"Sounds… rough..." Yang said between grunts as she raised and lowered the bar.

"It was," Weiss replied. "Most of them wouldn't leave me alone until I had sufficiently belittled them. It didn't help my reputation among my peers much, but it was certainly preferable to having to spend time with them."

"Sounds like you… made the right choice."

With a final grunt, Yang lifted the bar, held it there for a moment, and then racked it. She rose from the bench, then motioned for Weiss to take a seat. The heiress eyed the sweat-stained leather with trepidation, though an eyeroll from the blonde did eventually get her to sit down. Yang then began to pull the weight off the bar until it was empty.

"Five reps, Weiss," Yang said. The heiress nodded, then began to lift. "Anyway, I think you'll find that most people here aren't like that. In fact, I think that if you explain things to Jaune and give him a chance to move past it, that you'll come to like him as a friend."

"If you… say so..." Weiss said.

The rest of their workout went without incident. The two of them continued to exercise and talk, the subject of Jaune and his team being quickly abandoned in favor of other topics. Privately, Yang was hopeful that it would turn out to be something beneficial for both her and Weiss.

That being said, she _really _hoped that Nora turned out to be less high-maintenance than she seemed.

* * *

"What event preceded the battle of Fort Castle?"

"The battle of Mont Argent."

"And why was that battle significant?"

"Mont Argent was the cornerstone of the Faunus revolutionaries' defensive line, having been captured by insurgents early in the war. Because of its location, it served as an excellent staging area for aircraft and fixed gun emplacements, which let the Faunus hold down the surrounding locations with air support and artillery. Also, since Mont Argent was formerly an Atlesian base before being captured, it was vital to the Atlesian military that it be recaptured as soon as possible, both to deprive their enemies of a valuable resource and for propaganda purposes, as the war was very rapidly becoming unpopular."

"What was the result of that battle?"

"After several years of constant assault, General Lagune finally managed to break through, recapturing Mont Argent and forcing the Faunus to retreat to Fort Castle. However, before leaving, they rigged the entire area with explosives, then detonated them as soon as the general's army began to enter. Casualties were minimal, but General Lagune was deprived of a valuable strategic asset… and, more importantly, was left humiliated despite achieving a victory. Enraged, he ordered the rest of his army to pursue the Faunus to Fort Castle. The rest is history."

"Very good," Blake said, closing the binder full of notes in front of her. She cast a glance over at the clock. "How about we break for a few minutes? I think you could use a breather."

Red nodded, relaxing slightly in her chair. Blake, meanwhile, pushed the binder away and reached for her book. She had barely opened the cover when she paused, then turned back to her teammate.

"Are you going to take a break?" Blake asked.

Red tilted her head, confused. "I am."

"You're just sitting there. I figured you would want to do something to relax."

"Like what?"

"You know, like read a book or listen to music." The wolf Faunus shook her head. "Well, what do you usually do to take a break during our study sessions?"

"Wait to start studying again."

Blake blinked in surprise. She had been studying together with Red for a few days now, yet she had never noticed that Red never seemed to do anything during their breaks. For the first time in her life, Blake silently cursed herself for being so obsessed with reading, then set her book aside.

"So, there's really nothing you want to do to take your mind off of studying for a bit?"

Red shrugged. "I don't know what I would do."

"Well, what do you usually do in your free time?"

"Train."

"No, I meant for fun."

"Exercise."

Blake frowned, suddenly concerned. "Red, what do you like to do to relax?"

To her dismay, Red only seemed to be getting more confused with every question. "...Clean my weapons? I used to hunt, but I can't do that here..."

Hunting? Well, it wasn't Blake's first choice of hobby, but if it was what Red liked to do, then so be it. "Okay. What did you like to hunt?"

Another shrug. "Anything edible."

"Oh, so you cooked?"

"...Kind of? I didn't really use any spices or anything, I just roasted the meat over a fire or made it into jerky for later." Again, she shrugged. "Not that it matters, since I can't do it here. I wouldn't want to, anyway – the food Beacon serves is much better."

Blake was stunned. "So, you don't have any hobbies or anything?" Red shook her head. Blake sighed. "Okay, I think it's clear what needs to happen."

Standing up, she approached Red and gently took her by the hand. Seeing her confused look, Blake added, "We are going to find you a hobby, because doing nothing but studying and training all the time is not healthy."

"Why? It's not like this is anything new for me."

"And that's the problem. Red, you need to give yourself some time to rest and recover. Constantly working all the time isn't good for you." Blake paused, then looked at her team leader's face, focusing on the dark rings beneath her eyes. "In fact, I'd bet that the reason you look so exhausted is because you're working too hard."

For some reason, Red flinched at that. "...Okay," she said, quietly and with resignation. "What did you have in mind…?"

"Well, luckily we're in the library already."

Stopping in front of one of the bookshelves, Blake let go of her team leader's hand and began to browse the titles on display. "Now, where do they keep the classics…?" Turning back to Red, she added, "If you see a title that catches your eye, go ahead and grab it."

"...They let you just take books for free?"

Again, Blake paused. "This is a library. You rent books, then return them later. If they get damaged or lost, you pay the library for them." She turned to look at her team leader. "You have been in a library before, right?"

Red shook her head. "N-no… I spent most of my life living on the streets, then got taken in by a Freelancer who trained me to support him. I don't know much besides fighting..."

Well, that explained a lot. It also brought back some of Blake's earlier fears, but she pushed them out of her mind for now. "Well, then we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

"...Do you really think reading is a good idea?"

"I mean, it seems like a safe bet, don't you think? It's something quiet that you can do on your own, whenever you want. With your night vision, you can even read in the dark, when the rest of us are trying to sleep. Plus, it's not as expensive as many other hobbies, especially if you have a library right here." Turning back towards the nearest bookshelf, Blake frowned. "Of course, that relies on the library actually having a good selection. I don't see any of the classics in here... or even much fiction, for that matter."

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake thought she saw one book written by someone named _P. Port. _It took everything she had not to groan.

Okay, that settled it.

"Well, this library is awful," she said, no small amount of disdain in her voice. "Luckily, I brought my own collection. If you want, we can head back to the room, and I can let you browse what I have."

Red hesitantly nodded. "Okay… I mean, if you think it will help..."

"Right now, it's just something to try," Blake replied. "I won't make any promises. Still, it's worth a shot, don't you think?"

Again, Red nodded softly, much to her relief. Motioning for the wolf to follow her, Blake returned to the table and gathered up all their study materials before the two of them set off towards their dorm.

* * *

"How's this one look?"

Red stared at the book in her hands with a blank expression. "...What am I looking for?"

"Well, anything that stands out, really," Blake offered. "The title, the cover picture, the description on the back… anything that catches your eye."

The wolf nodded softly, though Blake could tell that she still didn't understand. As Red turned the book over in her hands, Blake went back to searching through the bookshelf she had commandeered early on, looking for anything that she thought her team leader might enjoy.

Of course, such a task would have been easier if she had the slightest idea of the kind of things Red would have been interested in reading about, but unfortunately, not even Red herself seemed to know. It wasn't her fault, but that didn't stop it from being discouraging, since the only way forward was for Blake to root through everything she had brought with her in search of something suitable.

_Let's see… She said she likes to hunt, so maybe something outdoorsy? _Blake thought to herself. After a moment, she sighed. _Unfortunately, I don't have anything like that. _A thought occurred to her, and she couldn't help but smirk. _Maybe she would appreciate _Black Tooth_? It's about a wolf, after all… Might be a good idea to get a copy._

Filing that for later, Blake continued to search through the bookcase, pulling out books to examine them before putting them back. As time went on, she was getting more and more frustrated. Most of what she had brought with her were fantasy and romance books, and somehow she didn't think Red would enjoy them.

Her hand brushed over a book hidden in the back, and she immediately recoiled to stop herself from pulling it out, breathing a sigh of relief in the process.

She _really _needed to find a better hiding spot for her more risque reading material. Unfortunately, there really wasn't anywhere else short of hiding it under her mattress… which wasn't a bad idea, now that she thought about it.

"Alright, I've got nothing," Blake announced, turning to face her team leader.

"Oh..." Red replied, glancing down at the floor. "Sorry..."

"Don't be; it's not your fault, and it's easily fixed. We'll just have to take a trip into Vale."

"Vale?" Red asked, suddenly sounding concerned.

Blake blinked, confused. "Yes. I had to head into town anyway to pick up some books for myself, but it would be a good idea to get you a few of your own as well."

"T-that's okay! I don't think I would enjoy it, anyway!"

"Well, you won't know until you try, right?" Blake asked. Where had Red's fear suddenly come from? Was she worried about having to deal with the more racist side of the city? "We'll stay away from downtown; in fact, there's a new bookstore that just opened up that I want to check out, and it's closer to where most of the Faunus live, so-"

Red shook her head. "C-can we not…? Please…?"

Blake frowned. "Red, is something wrong?"

"N-no! I just don't want to go into Vale, is all!"

"Not even for a little bit?" The wolf shook her head, causing Blake to sigh; she was going to have to convince Red again, and as much as she hated playing this card, it was absolutely true. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to head into Vale at some point. You can't go through four years of school locked up at Beacon."

Red's expression faltered, her ears flattening against her head. Clearly, she hadn't considered that part. Blake looked over at Weiss' alarm clock.

"Weiss and Yang will be back soon," she observed. It wasn't a lie; the two of them often disappeared for an hour or so after classes ended, apparently to go work out. "The two of us heading into town for a bit would give us some peace and quiet away from them."

That seemed to do the trick. Red visibly relaxed at the idea of not having to be around the other half of the team. She exhaled softly before turning to Blake and reluctantly nodding.

"Okay..." she muttered. "...But I'm carrying all my weapons with me."

"By all means," Blake replied. Three weapons was probably overkill, especially given Red's skill with her sidearm, but if it helped keep her at ease, then Blake didn't see the harm in it. Besides, she would be carrying her own weapon with her, just in case.

At her confirmation, Red set off for her locker, retrieving her combat outfit and weapons. A few minutes later, and the two of them were heading towards Beacon's airport. They had barely stepped foot on the airship when Red seemed to realize something, then frantically began digging around in her pockets. After several seconds, she gave Blake a mortified look.

"...I forgot my money," she admitted solemnly.

"Don't worry about it; I'll spot you," Blake replied. Red's look turned even more downcast, causing Blake to frown. "Red, I don't mind. I have a bit of extra money, and this is for a good cause." She flashed her team leader a reassuring grin. "You're worth it."

Red still looked uncomfortable, shifting nervously in her seat. Still, she seemed to accept that answer, much to Blake's relief.

* * *

Now that the school year had started back up, the streets of Vale were a bit emptier at night. Then again, that might have just been because they had ventured out of the downtown area in favor of a slightly less wealthy one.

It was an unusual look compared to the Vale that Red was accustomed to. There were few humans to be found here; instead, the area seemed to be almost completely dominated by Faunus. While this would have normally put Red at ease, the thought that she could very well be marching into a White Fang stronghold was all it took for her to wrap her hand around the grip of her pistol and refuse to let go.

The fact that so many Faunus were giving Blake nasty looks didn't help. Strangely, Blake herself seemed nonplussed about the whole thing. Was she just that fearless, or did she think that they would hesitate to lash out at her since she was traveling with a Faunus? Frankly, Red had no idea, and as much as she wanted to bring up her concerns to her teammate, Blake seemed dead set on traveling to this bookstore, and trying to talk her out of this whole excursion would only make it take longer.

Sighing, Red continued to follow her teammate as she led the way, the whole time scanning the area for any threats. Luckily, none jumped out at her. This was unusual; the White Fang she knew wouldn't have hesitated to try and approach a human in their territory. Perhaps they didn't have as strong a foothold in Vale? It was a ridiculous thought, given that she knew for a fact that Vale housed a moderately-sized cell, but it was the only real explanation she could think of that somewhat put her at ease.

The alternative was that they had just gotten lucky up to this point, and as rational a viewpoint as that was, Red didn't want to risk frightening Blake by showing just how afraid she was that it was the truth.

Finally, after several minutes of walking, Blake called back to her. "It's just up ahead."

Looking up, Red found a small shop. It looked to have been freshly refurbished, and was clearly new. A sign on the front window read _Tukson's Book Trade, _and in smaller font beneath, _Home to every book under the sun! _

Frankly, Red wasn't holding her breath.

The two of them entered the store, a small bell chiming to signal their arrival. Looking around, Red was unable to locate anyone, though this only lasted for a moment before a voice from one of the back rooms caught their attention.

"Just a moment; I'll be right there. I'm just moving some boxes."

At the sound of the man's voice, her ears perked up. Why did that voice sound familiar? It was almost like… Her eyes suddenly widened as it hit her.

_No way…_

"Sorry about that," the man said as he stepped out from the room and took his spot behind the counter. "Anyway, welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every-"

His gaze suddenly met Red's. Both their eyes widened in recognition, causing them both to pause. Slowly, a wide grin began to split his face.

"Home to every book under the sun," he finished after a moment.

Red swallowed nervously. It was the man from Mistral. Staring at him, she felt her heart begin to pound in her chest, though for the first time since she had started at Beacon, it wasn't because she was afraid. Rather, it was because she suddenly felt an intense desire to approach this man and thank him for everything he had done for her. Her gaze flicked over towards Blake, who was currently browsing a shelf in front of the windows. Her teammate being present would make things difficult, if not impossible. Still, she felt driven to say something, _anything, _to let this man know just how much he had changed her life for the better.

Tentatively, she approached the counter. He crossed his arms as she did, but his expression never changed to anything less than joyful. She cleared her throat.

"I'm… new to reading," she said softly. "Is there anything you can recommend…?"

"I think I might have something in the back that'd be perfect for you," he said. "Wait here."

Her heart fell. "O-okay..."

He disappeared into the back, and Red sighed sadly. She had been hoping to follow him, so she could thank him in private away from her teammate. If he had recognized her, why hadn't he invited her back with him? Did he just not think much of what he had done?

A minute later, and the man returned, carrying a small stack of books with him. "I think these would be a good place to start," he said, placing them down on the counter. "Those are the classics – things like _To Kill a Nevermore, Celsius 232, _and _Sin and Sentence. _They're all good books, and should give you an idea of the kind of things you like to read."

Again, Red felt her heart plummet. Did he really not remember…?

He suddenly looked over towards Blake. Seeing that she was distracted, he gestured for Red to lean in close; surprised, she did as she was told.

"Check the middle of _Sin and Sentence,_" he told her before pulling back. She looked at him in surprise, and he merely flashed her another grin.

Red reached for the book in question, then opened to the page. Inside, she found an old Beacon pamphlet. She looked at him once more, and this time, he winked at her.

For the first time in ages, Red felt a small grin cross her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

He returned her grin with one of his own, even wider than all his other ones, and nodded in understanding.

Footsteps from behind marked Blake's approach, the ravenette carting an armful of books along with her. She gently placed them all on the counter, then looked at the stack in front of Red in surprise.

"Where'd these come from?" she asked.

Tukson chuckled. "She said she was a new reader and didn't know where to start, so I figured I'd get her set up right."

Blake's gaze settled on _Sin and Sentence, _her eyes widening in surprise. Cautiously, she picked up the book, then examined it. "I-is this a first edition?!" Frantically, she looked over towards Tukson. "I'm sorry, but there's no way we can afford all these! If you have a standard edition-"

He waved her off nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it. It's on the house."

Blake froze. "...I'm sorry, what was that?"

"It's on the house," he repeated. "I'm running a special today – buy one, get one free. There's three books in your friend's stack, and you've got five in front of you. I'll take payment for half and call it even."

"...You're _giving away _a first edition."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know, now that you mention it, I should ask for a bit more. So, how about this: I'll sell you all eight of these books for the price of four, provided you spread the word about my shop to all your friends." He thought for a bit, then added, "And not just your Faunus friends, either – I want everyone to know that I don't discriminate." He crossed his arms. "That's my final offer."

Blake hesitated, then sighed. "...Deal. How much do I owe you?"

Tukson eyeballed the stack of books, then shrugged. "Forty lien should cover it."

"Forty? The sticker price on _Black __Tooth _alone was-"

"Consider it a fire sale."

Again, Blake froze. "...Is there something going on here that I'm not aware of?"

He smirked. "I'm a new business in town, ma'am. Any advertising I can get is worth its weight in gold. I'll gladly take a loss on this sale if it means I get somebody out there spreading the word about my shop."

The ravenette sighed. "...Well, I guess I can't argue with that, even though it feels wrong for me to accept this."

Idly, Red mused that Blake would probably feel a lot better if she knew that Tukson was only doing this because of her, but that wasn't nearly enough to convince her to give Blake even a fraction of the truth.

Blake paid for the books, and Tukson bagged them up. The two of them once again thanked Tukson profusely, though he was quick to wave them off with nothing but a grin.

"You all come back soon," he called after them as they left.

Red couldn't help but smirk at that. Oh, she definitely would. After everything he had done for her, the least she could do was show her appreciation by stopping in to say hi every once in a while.

But first, since he had been kind enough to give her these books, she was going to give this whole 'reading' thing a try…

As they walked, Red dug around in her bag for the copy of _Sin and Sentence. _She went to open it, only for the brochure Tukson had placed within to fall out and open up. Red bent down to pick it up, only for something within to catch her eye. Looking closely, it appeared as though Tukson had left her a note on the margins.

_Hey, kid. Glad to see you're doing okay. I knew you'd make it, but getting to see it for myself was a huge relief. Congrats._

_However, you've still got a long way to go before you can put your past behind you. If you're anything like the others I've helped get out of the White Fang, then you're probably pretty closed-off, and that isn't going to help you at all._

Red frowned, but kept reading anyway.

_My advice to you: find a group of people who accept you for who you are, whether they're humans or Faunus. Do that, and you'll have truly escaped the White Fang._

_\- Tukson._

Red's frown deepened. She looked over the brochure once more, but there was nothing else written besides that. With a sigh, Red tucked it back inside the book, then continued walking, unsure of herself.

Tukson hadn't failed her yet, but that didn't mean she had complete faith in him, at least where this topic was concerned. Before coming to Beacon, she had made a promise to stay away from people, and not just because she was afraid of interacting with humans.

...But at the same time, wasn't she already connecting with Blake? For that matter, wasn't she also connecting with Ozpin? The thought gave her pause. Apparently, she had already failed to uphold her promise to herself. And if she knew anything about Ozpin, it was likely that he was going to force her to make more friends besides just Blake. As much as she didn't want to, she dreaded what he might do if she refused to follow his orders. At best, he would probably kick her out, and at worse…

The scar on her stomach started to burn, and Red hissed softly, rubbing at it. The phantom pain only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to remind her of what was at stake. Looking towards Blake, she let out a sigh.

If she was going to be forced to make more friends, she might as well bite the bullet and get it over with now.

"Hey, Blake?"

Blake slowed, looking back at her. "Yes, Red?"

Red hesitated, unsure of how to word her request. "Could you help me with something?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Can you…" She hesitated, then sighed. "...Can you help me learn how to make more friends?"

Blake stopped walking, turning around to look at her in surprise. For a moment, Red was afraid that she would refuse. Instead, a small grin crossed Blake's face.

"Of course. Though, do you mind if I ask what brought this on? You seemed pretty resistant to the idea earlier."

"...I had a good time today," Red admitted. "With you, I mean. If this is what friends do, then..."

Blake nodded. "I see. Well, do you have anyone in mind?"

Red shook her head. Truthfully, she didn't. Pyrrha, perhaps, but apparently Weiss and Yang had been spending a lot of time around her team, so that was a bit too dangerous.

"That's okay," Blake said. "I'm sure we'll find someone. In the meantime, how about I teach you a bit more about how to make friends?"

"Okay."

The two approached the airport, then took a seat on a nearby bench while they waited for their airship to arrive. After a moment to get settled, Blake began to speak.

* * *

"So, just so I know where to start: how have you made friends before in the past?"

Red hesitated. "...I haven't."

"You haven't? What do you mean?"

"I've… never really had a friend before," Red admitted.

Blake felt a pang of sympathy bolt through her. "Oh. Well, friendship is all about trust, really – you're opening yourself up to someone else and trusting that they'll accept you and care for you."

"...People really do that? They just make themselves vulnerable to others?"

Blake nodded. "Yes. You need to be able to trust your friends."

Red looked surprised. "...You trust me?"

"Yes."

The word felt like poison on her tongue. Given the secret she was hiding from her team leader – her _friend – _Blake felt awful implying that she trusted Red even a little. They might have been friends, but Blake wasn't about to let her true past leak out.

Instead, Blake leaned in close. "Do you trust me, Red?"

Red suddenly shrank in on herself, her ears flattening against her head. She sighed softly, then to Blake's surprise, shook her head.

"I-it's not you..." Red tentatively said. "I just… It's tough for me to trust others..."

"Didn't you have a mentor?" Blake asked.

At the mention of her mentor, Red tensed, though she was quick to nod all the same. "...He wasn't a friend," she answered. "He was my mentor."

"But you trusted him?"

"...Sometimes."

"Ah."

Suddenly, her theory about Red being abused was coming back with a vengeance.

"How did the two of you meet, anyway?"

The wolf shrugged. "...I tried to pickpocket him when I lived on the streets. He took pity on me and offered me a place to stay if I trained to serve as his backup. I had nowhere else to go, so I accepted."

"And I'm guessing he didn't really give you any time to socialize while he was training you?"

Red shook her head. "Most of my time was spent training. I didn't really do much else."

Well, that explained her introversion, her uneasiness around people, her high level of skill, and her sub-par education. It also made Blake want to change the subject, lest she be stricken with a desire to hunt down Red's mentor even more than she already was.

"Can you help me?" Red asked, breaking Blake out of her thoughts.

Tentatively, Blake nodded. "I think I can, but after hearing all that, I'm not sure I'm the best one for the job," she admitted.

Red's expression fell. "Oh… Why is that…?"

How was she supposed to answer that? 'Your backstory is messed up beyond all belief and you have so much baggage that I'm not sure how to even begin helping you, especially when it comes to learning to approach and trust people?' As true as it was, there was no way Blake was going to tell her friend that. Then, a thought occurred to her.

She couldn't help her team leader, but there was somebody else who could.

"I think I know what to do," Blake announced.

Red looked at her in surprise. "You do?"

The ravenette winced slightly, knowing that this wasn't likely to go over well. "You might not like it," she admitted.

"...That's okay," Red said. "What did you have in mind?"

"I think that the one person who might be able to really help you out is Coco."

Red was silent. She stared at Blake, her expression unreadable, and her eyes wide, as if she couldn't quite believe what she had just been told.

"Hear me out," Blake pleaded. "Coco seems like she was in a similar situation to you – I mean, she implied that herself. Despite that, she's outgoing, charismatic, approachable, and very friendly. I'm not saying that she'll turn you into a copy of herself, but if you want to learn how to trust people, then I don't think you'll be able to find a better teacher besides her."

Again, Red was silent. She looked down at the floor; to Blake's relief, she seemed to be mulling it over in her head. It wasn't much of a positive sign, but it, along with the fact that Red hadn't taken off running, were incredibly reassuring despite that.

"...You're sure?" Red asked.

Blake nodded. "I'm positive."

The wolf took a deep breath before turning back towards Blake. "...I'll try," she said softly.

Blake felt her heart skip a beat, though she was careful to keep her reaction measured. Instead, she nodded. "I'll send her a message on the way back." Seeing that Red still looked uncertain, she added, "I know you're not exactly comfortable with this, but I truly do think that it's the best option for you. Please give her a chance."

Red met her gaze, then softly nodded. "...I will."

Her voice was hollow, but Blake could tell that she wasn't going to get anything better than that from her. With the conversation now dead, Blake pulled out her scroll and typed a message to Coco, sending it just as the airship to Beacon arrived. The two of them boarded, bags of books in tow, and settled in for the trip back.

The whole time, Blake desperately hoped that she had made the right decision, and that Coco would be capable of helping.

* * *

"Oh, oh! I know this one! The answer is forty-two!"

Weiss sighed and slumped forward, hanging her head low as she brought her hands up to rub at her temples. Vaguely, she was aware of Yang giving her a sympathetic look, but she ignored it for now.

"Nora, I don't think there are forty-two protons in a single atom of Dust," Ren helpfully pointed out.

"There aren't? Then why did that book tell me forty-two was the answer to life, the universe, and everything?" Nora asked.

"Because it was a comedy."

"It _was_?"

Weiss let out a heavy sigh, then reluctantly looked up. Yang was still looking at her with sympathy, while Pyrrha and Jaune seemed unsure what to make of the situation. Seeing her looking, Jaune glanced over at her, then abruptly looked away without saying anything.

That was one improvement, at least. At Yang's suggestion, Weiss had approached Jaune and spelled out the fact that she wasn't interested in him, that it wouldn't work between them, and that he should go after someone more receptive to him than she was. She had even done her best to be as nice as possible when doing so, even though his first response upon her approaching him and asking to talk was to try another ridiculous pick-up line on her.

In any case, Jaune had reluctantly accepted her explanation, and had sworn to stop pursuing her. Apparently, he hadn't known that he was annoying her so much… which was a bit ridiculous given how she had reacted to him in the past, but whatever, it was no longer her concern.

As Nora and Ren continued debating over whatever book they were talking about, Weiss felt Yang tap her on the arm.

"You good?" the blonde asked.

Abruptly, Weiss stood up. "I'm sorry, I just need a moment to myself. I'll be right back."

Everyone glanced at her in surprise, Yang's look turning apologetic after a moment, but nobody tried to stop her as she stepped out from her spot behind the table and began to head down the nearest row of bookshelves.

Weiss had known that Nora was going to be difficult to deal with, but this was something else. She was friendly enough, sure, but she had no sense of boundaries, she was incredibly boisterous and hyperactive, and she tended to interject with completely off-topic and random nonsense whenever she felt like it. To make matters worse, rather than rein her in, Ren seemed content to play along, enabling her behavior. It was all too much for the heiress; she needed a break, even if only for a few minutes.

Checking the wall-mounted clock, Weiss found that it had only been a half-hour since they had arrived in the library for their study session. They hadn't even made it through Dust Chemistry yet, to say nothing of the multitude of other classes that were still in need of review.

And that was another issue. Of the six of them, only four – herself, Ren, Yang, and Pyrrha – were maintaining excellent grades. Jaune and Nora, meanwhile, were borderline in some classes and flat-out failing in others. Jaune was doing fine in History and either close to failing or already in the process of flunking out of everything else, while Nora was doing excellently only in Combat Class and Grimm Studies. Somehow, despite her affinity for making her own high-explosive grenades, Nora couldn't quite grasp the intricacies of Dust Chemistry… which was good to know on a certain level, since it meant that Weiss now knew to avoid Beacon's forge whenever Nora was there, lest the hammer-wielder blow her to smithereens by mistake. But other than learning that useful bit of information, the entire study session had been nothing but a headache from the start.

Why was she doing this, again? She could always just leave. Yang would probably be disappointed, but she would understand. Standing up a bit straighter, Weiss made her decision. She was going to pack up her things and go, maybe leave her scroll number with Pyrrha and – she still couldn't believe she was saying this – Jaune, in case they wanted to contact her when Ren and Nora weren't around. But for now, it was just too much.

Turning on her heel, Weiss stepped out from behind the bookshelves and began to head back to the others, only for a voice from behind to stop her in her tracks.

"Yo, is that Weiss Schnee?"

She paused. Part of her wanted to keep walking, expecting them to be the same hecklers that had been whispering things behind her back ever since she lost to her team leader, but their tone hadn't matched the one generally used when people talked about her in whispered voices. That being said, she knew better than to expect the best.

All the same, she was a Schnee, and she had been raised to carry herself in a certain way even when interacting with the riff-raff – her father's words, not hers.

So, putting on a thin smile, Weiss turned around to greet them.

"Yes, that would be me," she announced, her voice carrying not even a small amount of the irritation festering inside her at the moment. "What can I do for you?"

There were four of them, all boys. They looked familiar, but she couldn't place it immediately. Eventually, she recognized them as four other first-years, ones who shared several classes with her.

There was something strange about them, though – of the four of them, only three seemed happy to be talking to her. The last – the blonde one – stood behind them, looking very dissatisfied for some reason.

"We've been looking for you," one of them – the leader, she presumed – said cheerfully, a small grin on his face. "When we heard you were attending this school, we knew we had to meet you. We're all big fans."

Oh. Well, that hadn't been what she was expecting. Still, it was actually a welcome development; she didn't usually meet many fans. Her smile widened, and unlike usual, this time it was genuine.

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," she said. "It's always nice to meet people who enjoy my music."

To her surprise, he shook his head. "Oh, sorry, I guess I should have explained better. We're not fans of your music – I mean, we _are, _but that's not why we're here. No, we're fans of your _company_."

Again, not what she was expecting, though this time his explanation brought only confusion instead of joy. In all her years, Weiss had never heard of anyone who actually _liked _the SDC, at least the SDC that her father was running. There were people who appreciated the products the company made, sure, but most people had nothing but terrible things to say about the company.

This conversation was only getting stranger by the second.

"Oh, um… that's good to know," Weiss said, unsure of how to respond. She was careful not to let her confusion show; her carefully-rehearsed smile stayed plastered on her face the whole time, uncomfortable as it was. "Do you mind if I ask why that is? It would certainly be useful."

The boy exchanged a glance with the rest of his team, and they all snickered.

Suddenly, Weiss regretted asking.

"Well, we like the way you guys run things," he responded.

"...I'm sorry, I don't quite understand. I mean, we do pride ourselves on our efficiency and the knowledge of our executives, but-"

He shook his head. "That wasn't quite what we meant," he interrupted. "Nah, what we like is how you keep the animals in their place."

Her smile faded. "What?"

He nodded. "You know, how you put humans first. Humanity runs things, and the animals are in the mines where they belong."

She scowled, not even bothering to hide her contempt for the four – or three? The blonde appeared to be even more unhappy than before – in front of her. "If you say so," she said.

She turned and began to walk away, only for him to reach out and grab her by the arm.

"Hey, why are you leaving?" he asked. "We wanted to extend to you an offer to join us."

Weiss roughly pulled her arm back with disdain. "Whatever it is, I'm not interested," she spat.

"C'mon, really? Not even if it helped you tear down one of the animals here? We've already got one picked out – this bitch of a first-year-"

"I already told you, I'm not interested," Weiss said, her eyes narrowing.

"And why is that? I thought you of all people would hate-"

"Oh, trust me, I have no love for the Faunus," she interrupted. "However, that doesn't mean I'm going to jeopardize my spot at Beacon by trying to ruin somebody else." Again, her eyes narrowed. "And, if I'm being honest, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't do it with you four, because you're all idiots."

Three of them scowled, while the last blinked, apparently surprised to have been included among them. Their team leader took a step forwards. "You've got a lot of nerve, Schnee."

"What I _have _is a working brain, unlike you four. Collectively, the four of you must have an IQ that's at least one standard deviation below the average, because this is just about the dumbest recruiting attempt I've ever seen. You're approaching me in a public place, surrounded by people. What was your plan for if I refused, anyway?" She put her hands on her hips. "Are you going to threaten me? Maybe try to beat me up a little?"

He grit his teeth, and she actually laughed a little.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "I'm the heiress to the SDC, the biggest company on Remnant, which is owned by the richest family on Remnant, and your solution was to attack me? You know what? Try it. See what happens. Give me a reason to call in all the resources at my disposal so I can bury the four of you in litigation and controversy." She paused. "Oh, I'm sorry, those were some big words. You see, 'litigation' means 'If you touch me, I call my family's lawyers and get them involved'; 'controversy' means 'All it would take is a message to the right people and I can dig up all of your dirty laundry and air it for the world to see'."

"Enough!" he shouted. "You think you can just talk to us like that and get away with it?!"

"Obviously, because I'm doing it right now," Weiss replied without missing a beat. "Try to keep up, will you? I've seen smarter first-year combat school students than you four."  
He opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off when the rest of Weiss' table suddenly stepped in alongside her, each of them affixing the four boys with harsh glares.

"These four giving you trouble?" Yang asked.

Weiss shook her head. "They were just leaving, I believe."

"Like you could get rid of us that easily," the lead boy said with a sneer, bringing up his hands to crack his knuckles.

He never got a chance to before Nora walked up to him, a big grin on her face.

"Hey, there!" she said cheerfully.

He gazed down at her, unimpressed. "What do you want?"

Her grin widened. "Oh, I just wanted to know what your bench press is."

He exchanged a glance with his friends. "It's-"

He was cut off by a loud crack. Looking down, he saw that Nora had grabbed a hold of his right hand, and was squeezing with all she had. His face contorted into a pained wince, and his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Nora's grin widened even more. "Whatever it is, I think mine might be better~" she sang. Then, she leaned in. "Why don't the four of you take a hike? 'Cuz I'm _really _having to hold myself back from crushing your hand like a grape right now, and I don't know much longer I'll be able to do that!"

None of them needed to be told twice. Roughly pulling his sprained hand from Nora's grasp, the four of them quickly stormed off, but not before three of them gave them all a final, rueful glance. The six of them returned it, then once they were gone, everyone turned to Weiss.

"You alright?" Yang asked.

Weiss waved her off. "Perfectly fine. Thank you all for the help, though I think I had it under control."

"I think you did, too." The corners of Yang's mouth quirked upwards. "What was that bit about standard deviation, again?"

Weiss paused. "...How much did you hear?"

"Oh, enough," Nora interrupted. "But we didn't decide to jump in until it seemed like they were gonna attack you!"

Pyrrha nodded. "You were louder than you thought you were."

Nora smacked roughly smacked Weiss on the back. "I don't think we had to worry; those guys didn't seem so tough! Now, I don't know about any of you, but I'm in the mood to talk about breaking things, so why don't we move on to talking about Grimm?"

Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but Nora was already gone, running back to the table. She touched her back and winced, already feeling a small ache from where Nora had smacked her. Part of her was still irritated with the little redhead, but it was drowned out by the part that was still cheering at how Nora had almost broken that guy's hand like it was nothing.

The thought of it brought a small smile to her face. Perhaps she had been too quick to judge Nora? Sure, she was hyperactive and annoying, but she seemed to have a strong moral code, and she hadn't hesitated to help Weiss even though the two of them hardly knew each other.

Yang had taken a risk by giving Weiss herself a chance, so the least she could do was pay it forward.

With that in mind, Weiss made her way back to the table with the others, somehow feeling much more at ease despite all the drama that had just occurred.

* * *

Red shifted nervously on her feet, uncertain. Coco had replied to Blake's message on the way back from Vale, and the two of them had set up a meeting. If what Blake had said was true, Coco would be able to help her. It felt wrong, that she would be offered help after everything she had done. Part of her wanted to cancel the meeting purely for that reason, but her more rational side won out. If she was going to stay at Beacon, she was going to have to open herself up to people, as uncomfortable and guilty as it made her feel.

A gentle hand on her shoulder caused her to flinch. Turning, she saw Blake looking at her with concern.

"Nervous?"

The wolf nodded. "...Not used to other people."

"I know, but that's why we're here. If it makes you feel better, you've already taken a big step forward simply by agreeing to this. You should be proud of yourself for that alone."

Red nodded, though she didn't really agree with her teammate. Unfortunately for Blake, making friends wasn't the kind of progress Red was interested in.

The seconds ticked by in silence, the two of them simply standing in their dorm room, waiting. Absentmindedly, Red cast a glance over at the plastic bag full of books sitting on her bed. On the way back, Blake had taken inventory, picking out the ones she felt would be good for a new reader. She had balked at _Sin and Sentence; _apparently, it wasn't exactly easy to get into. Still, she had conceded that it was good, though she had also been careful to add that Red would want to steer clear of it until she had made her way through the others first.

A shame, too; if Tukson had picked it out specifically for her, then he must have thought she would have liked it.

Ultimately, Blake had told her to start with _To Kill a Nevermore _and _Black Tooth_, then move on to the others if she enjoyed them. With no counter-arguments, Red had agreed. Hopefully, reading would be as interesting as Blake had made it sound, though she wasn't holding her breath.

Honestly, what kind of person preferred to look at words on a page instead of doing something useful? It all seemed so worthless compared to training or working out.

A knock on the door interrupted her ruminations. Hurriedly, Blake walked over and opened it, allowing their visitor entry.

Coco strolled in with a grin. "Hell-" She looked at Red, and her grin faded. "Oh, Dust… I'm sorry, what are you wearing?"

Confused, Red looked down at herself. She was wearing her usual combat clothes, having been unwilling to enter a crowded area without them and her weapons. Why they were worth noticing was beyond her.

"Coco..." Blake said with a sigh.

The second-year cleared her throat. "Right, my bad." Her grin returned. "How's it going, Red? Blake told me about your trip. Did you have a good time?"

"Yes," she replied, though only because she had gotten to see Tukson again.

"That's good." She looked over at Blake. "So, how do we want to do this?"

"That's up to you," Blake said, shrugging. "This is outside of my area of expertise."

"Why don't we ask her?" Coco said, motioning towards Red.

Red jumped slightly, not expecting to be called out so directly. "...I want to learn how to make friends," she said softly. "Everyone keeps telling me that I need to know how if I'm going to stay at Beacon, but it's hard. Nobody ever taught me how. Blake says I need to learn to trust people, but I don't know how to do that, either. How can I just put my faith in someone I only just met? It doesn't make sense…"

Coco nodded along with Red's statement. "Well, you're doing better than you thought, you know."

"I am?" Red asked, surprised.

"Sure. I mean, you've opened yourself up to Blake quite a bit, and you're putting a lot of faith in me by inviting me here and asking me for help. I think you need to give yourself a bit more credit."

The Faunus paused. She hadn't considered that, but it did make sense. "...So, what do you recommend?"

"It's going to sound like I'm copying Blake, but I would honestly recommend a trip to Vale."

Blake blinked, surprised. "Really?"

The brunette nodded. "Yes, really. From the sound of things, what she really needs is to learn how to talk to people, since she's already working on trusting others just by approaching me and you."

"But couldn't she do that here? Why go into Vale?"

"Because she has to live around the people here," Coco pointed out. "My plan was to take her out to Vale and bring her to some of the stores around town, then have her start up some small talk with the employees there – they're used to talking with all kinds of people, so she won't seem out of the ordinary. Plus, if things don't go well for whatever reason, then she can just avoid that store and probably never have to see them again. It's about as close to risk-free as something like this possibly gets."

"...I guess that makes sense," Blake conceded.

Coco grinned sheepishly. "If I'm being honest, there's another reason, too." She looked back towards Red, wincing as she did so. "I'm getting you a new wardrobe," she announced.

"I don't have any money," Red replied.

"That doesn't matter, since I'm the one paying."

The wolf's eyes widened. "Please don't waste your money on me."

Coco held up a hand, stopping her. "Trust me, it's not wasting money. You _really_ need new clothes – your combat outfit is fine since it's for fighting more than anything, but everything else? Yeah, I'm fixing that." She shuddered. "So much red and black..."

Red looked down at the ground, uncomfortable. "...Why…?"

"Because I still have to thank you for saving my friend, that's why," Coco said. "Plus, you're going to need new clothes – there are events that Beacon puts on that require something more formal than just red shirts and black pants."

"You mean the dance that's coming up," Blake pointed out.

"The dance, graduation, homecoming, the various special events that go on throughout the year… yeah, she's going to need at least a few outfits. It doesn't have to be insanely fancy, but it will be nicer than the stuff she's been buying in bulk." Coco's gaze traveled to the black cloak hanging from Red's shoulders. "And I'm getting you some new cloaks, too – that one looks like it came from a pawn shop in a slum somewhere."

Red decided not to tell her how right she was. Instead, she reluctantly nodded. "...Please don't spend too much," she begged.

Again, Coco waved her off. "My mom's the top fashion designer on Remnant – we'll be visiting some of her distributors, and they'll be happy to work out a deal with me." In a smaller voice, she added, "...Especially since I've already spent so much at their stores..." Then, with a more normal voice, she said, "Anyway, the most expensive thing we'll be getting will be her outfit for the dance, and I'll do my best to keep it from getting too crazy."

"Dance?" Red asked. "Do I really have to-"

Immediately, Coco rounded on her. "Yes, you have to," she said sternly. "_Everybody _goes to the Vytal Festival dance. It's not technically mandatory, but everybody does anyway, even if they don't stay for the whole time. And that goes double if somebody asks you to go with them."

"Why would anyone ask me to go with them…?"

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," Blake said hurriedly, giving Coco a pleading expression.

Reluctantly, Coco acquiesced. "Anyway, fact is, you're going to the dance, which means we're getting you a dress."

"I don't wear dresses," Red hurriedly replied. "Don't like my legs being exposed."

Coco blinked, then looked over at Blake. Blake looked back with her best 'it's probably a good idea not to ask' look. The brunette nodded softly, then turned back to the wolf.

"Okay, no dresses, then. We'll just have to get you fitted for a suit instead." Lowering her glasses to peer at her from above the frames, Coco appraised her. "You know, you'll probably look really good in a suit and tie." A small smirk crossed her face. "You might even be able to get away with that black-and-red look you love so much – black suit, white shirt, red tie… It's a classic, after all."

Images from a few weeks ago began to flash through the Faunus' mind – men in black suits and red ties raising their weapons at her, only to be cut down moments later in a splash of crimson. The stench of fresh blood filled her nose, and suddenly she could almost feel herself covered in blood, as if she had just been there.

She blinked, and then she was back in her dorm room, with Coco and Blake looking at her expectantly. She swallowed, then shook her head softly.

"...Not those colors, please," she said, her voice barely audible.

The two other girls exchanged a look. "Well, there's always the even more timeless black suit, white shirt, and black tie look," Coco offered. "I just figured that since you like black and red-"

"Black, white, and black will work," Red interjected.

"Alright, I'll make it happen. 'Course, you'll need other things, too – dress shoes, a few pairs of dress socks, a belt, some tabs for your collared shirt… not to mention things like a shoe shining kit and some shoe trees." Coco thought for a moment, then shrugged. "It can't be helped, I guess."

Pulling out her scroll, the brunette began taking some notes. "So, on top of all that, what would you like to wear?"

"Long pants and long-sleeved shirts," the wolf replied instantly.

Coco cast a glance over at the open closet. "Yes, I can see that," she said, shuddering. "Would you be open to trying other things?"

Red shrugged. "Don't know what else there is."

"Let's keep it simple for now," Blake interrupted. "It would probably be best to show her what the stores have in stock, then let her pick and choose."

Coco nodded, putting away her scroll. "Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I get a bit carried away sometimes."

Privately, Red hoped that those times didn't include when she was actually in the store, even though she knew they probably did.

The brunette checked the time. "Ah, shoot… I've got a training session with my team, so I've got to bail. Red, if it's alright with you, next Saturday would be a good time for me to do this. Does that work?"

Red nodded.

"Alright, see you then."

With that, the second-year left. Blake shut the door behind her, then turned to her team leader.

"I thought that went well. How about you?"

Red was about to shrug, but figured that wasn't what Blake wanted to hear and nodded instead.

"Great," the ravenette said. "Now, why don't we get some studying in? You looked like you were struggling a bit with some of the stuff in Oobleck's class."

Much to her own surprise, Red agreed with a nod. As she watched Blake begin pulling out her notes, she couldn't help but wonder why. If it had been just a few weeks ago, she would have refused in a heartbeat, probably saying that she had spent a lot of time around Blake already and that she wanted some time alone. Instead, she hadn't even considered the option.

Settling in next to Blake, the Faunus couldn't help but think that if this was what having a friend was like, that it was rather nice. The thought lasted only a moment before she pushed it away.

Thoughts like that were dangerous, especially with what she was planning to do in the future.

* * *

**So this chapter and the next one were supposed to be one single chapter, but I didn't expect them to give me so much trouble. The second half isn't even close to being done, so I'm splitting this one up. A shame, since there were some key scenes I wanted to hit in this chapter, but it is what it is. **

**Anyway.**

**So, not much to say. Kind of a continuation of the whole 'making friends' thing, which made for a very lighthearted chapter. I'm pretty sure that this is actually _the _most lighthearted chapter in the entire fic so far, but frankly, I don't mind – makes for a quick break from all the angst. It probably goes without saying, but you shouldn't expect this to last forever – the angst will come back, I promise. But for now, I'd rather focus on something a little different.**

**Aside from that, I've got nothing else. Next update will show the continuation of this little segue. I hope to see you there.**

**Next update: Saturday, April 11.**


	11. Chapter 11

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 11

* * *

Red tried to do her best to keep her apprehension under control, but she knew it wasn't to be. Her stomach was full of butterflies, and she knew the lurching of the airship had nothing to do with it.

Her first trip into Vale a week ago had been difficult enough, and that was when she was just going to pick up books with Blake. Now, she was going to have to actually interact with new people. Sure, Coco had tried to reassure her by saying that she would likely never see any of them again, but to someone who had gone her entire life with very little human contact, that was a small reassurance.

Red felt someone gently rest their hand on her shoulder and turned to face them, being met by Coco. The brunette looked concerned.

"Calm down," Coco said softly.

The wolf frowned, but took a deep breath all the same. "Sorry..."

"Don't be; I told you once that I've been in the same position as you. You've got nothing to apologize for." Her grasp on Red's shoulder tightened slightly. "I get that you're nervous, but I'll be there with you the whole time. If it's not working out, we can just cut and run."

Red nodded. The plan made sense, but it wasn't particularly helpful to her despite that. She just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something inherently wrong with what she was about to do.

Whenever she had walked Vale's streets before coming to Beacon, it had ended with someone dead. Even on the day she got accepted into Beacon, she had still failed to make it through the night without bloodshed. She doubted that she would ever be comfortable just strolling through the city for leisure; it felt more like a murderer returning to the scene of the crime than anything.

All the more reason to try her hardest at what she was here to do, then. The sooner she could accomplish her task, the better.

The airship landed a few minutes later, and the two of them set off for their first destination.

* * *

"Okay, remember what I told you. Just go in, walk up to the cashier, and ask her to show you where they keep their casual clothes."

"What if she refuses?"

"What, to show you around? Then pick something out, go try it on, and ask one of the employees for their opinion. From there, try for some basic small talk – things like how long they've been working there, what the job is like, where they want to school, stuff like that." The second-year gently waved her off. "Now, go on. I'll be keeping an eye on you while I talk with the manager, so there's nothing to worry about."

Red nodded in understanding, then pushed her through the glass double doors. A small chime went off above her head, causing her ears to perk up. She winced when she felt them stick up, expecting someone to call her out for being a Faunus and attempt to kick her out. Luckily, nobody did; one of the customers shot her a nasty look, but she ignored him in favor of focusing in on her target – _conversation partner, _she corrected herself; target was _not _the right word for this.

She nervously approached the cashier. She was a young woman who looked to be about Coco's age, maybe a year or two older. She was reading a fashion magazine and chewing some gum. As Red approached, the cashier peered at her from behind the magazine, but otherwise didn't react.

Red blinked, having expected some form of recognition. When none came, she instead softly cleared her throat.

"Where do you keep your casual clothes?"

The woman blew a bubble and popped it, then once more glanced at Red from behind her magazine. "In the back, next to the changing rooms."

"Oh." A pause. "...Could you show me?"

The woman checked her watch. "I'm on break."

Another pause. "...So, no?"

The cashier turned a page in her magazine. "Give me about fifteen minutes and I'll get back to you."

Red frowned. Clearly, this was a disaster. She looked around for Coco, but the brunette was nowhere in sight. _Of course, _she thought to herself. Unsure of what to do, she once again cleared her throat softly.

"So… you been working here long?"

That earned her a sigh. "Only for the last four years of my life."

"...Is it interesting?"

"It is when I'm not being interrupted while I'm on my break." She turned another page. "Word of advice: if you want to keep your soul, don't work retail."

Red wasn't sure what her soul had to do with that, but nodded all the same. "...Where'd you go to school?"

This time, the cashier paused. "What's with the questions? You trying to hit on me or something? Because..."

She motioned towards one of her fingers, where a diamond ring was displayed proudly. Red stared at it, then nodded once more. Again, she wasn't sure what the girl being married had to do with anything, but if she felt that it was important enough to mention, then it was probably worth taking notice of.

Suddenly, the cashier waved her off. "Look, I'm on my break. Come back if you need me to ring you up. Otherwise, please go flirt with someone who isn't taken."

At this point, Red wasn't sure if she was the one misinterpreting the conversation or if it was the cashier. Deciding the best move was to cut her losses and move on, she nodded once more and immediately set off towards the changing rooms.

Looking over the clothes, Red was struck by a sense of uncertainty. She had a sense for what was practical, but nothing here fit the bill; it was all too colorful, too expressive, and too expensive for her tastes. She was more at home with packages of bulk, plainly-colored pants and shirts, not… whatever jeans were. Still, she had a task to accomplish. Grabbing a pair of jeans, she retreated into one of the changing rooms, then locked the door behind her. After a quick sweep for any cameras or recording devices, she stripped down to just her shirt and her underwear, then tried her hardest not to focus on her battle-scarred legs as she pulled on the jeans.

They were… surprisingly stiff. They definitely weren't as mobile as her usual pants; there was no way she would be able to properly fight in these, or even lift weights in them, given how much they restricted her range of motion. They also left a lot to be desired where the pockets were concerned – she doubted she could fit more than a few pistol magazines in them, maybe a stripper clip full of .50 caliber rounds if she really tried; actual rifle magazines were definitely out of the question.

What was the point of these, again? They were certainly warm, but she had her cloak for that. Did people really wear things like this just because they liked the way they looked?

Actually, that was probably a dumb question seeing how most of the people at Beacon tended to dress, though it did raise another in the form of wondering why people even bothered to put so much emphasis on form over function.

All that aside, she at least had a reason to approach one of the employees this time. She took one step towards the door, then looked back at her discarded outfit and frowned. Was she just supposed to leave it here? What if somebody stumbled upon her things and tried stealing them? Worse, what if they accidentally activated her rifle's hidden function? No, there was no way she was going to leave any of it behind. Instead, she awkwardly gathered it all up into her arms, then stumbled out of the changing room in search of an employee.

Luckily, there was one nearby, taking inventory. Doing her best to push her disastrous first attempt out of her head, Red slowly approached, trying to avoid stumbling due to the awkward mass of clothes and weaponry held in her hands.

"Um, excuse me," she said softly as she approached the woman from behind.

The woman turned around, eyes widening slightly when she saw the pile of gear in Red's hands. Her surprise faded quickly, replaced with a warm smile. "Yes? How can I help you?"

"Um… how do these pants look on me? I can't really tell..."

The woman looked down, then frowned. "Do you mind putting your stuff down? You're kind of covering up-"

Red cut her off by unceremoniously dropping all her things onto the ground. The woman's eyes locked onto her pistol and she reeled back slightly when the barrel came to rest pointed directly at her leg, but again she recovered quickly, instead turning her attention back to Red.

"Hmmm..." She put one hand on her chin as she appraised the Faunus, deep in thought. "...I think they might be a little too light for you."

"My-" She hesitated. 'Friend' didn't seem like the right word for Coco just yet. "...Someone I know wanted me to try out some lighter colors."

"Then you're on the right track, but I think that's a bit _too _light. Here, follow me – we've got some jeans in your size that are a bit darker than that, and I think you're going to love them."

Somehow, Red doubted that, but she followed along all the same, stopping only to gather all her gear once more. The employee stopped in front of the rack of jeans, then looked it over before pulling out several different pairs. After a minute, she turned back to Red, clearly expecting to hand them over to her. Unfortunately, Red was still carting around all her gear; in the end, she directed Red towards the changing room, then stood outside of it with the jeans in her hands.

Partway through undressing, Red realized that she basically had a captive audience, and decided to take advantage.

"So, how long have you worked here?"

"Oh, I just started a few months ago," came the response.

"You like it?"

"Yup! It's nice getting to meet all the people."

Silently, Red thanked her lucky stars that this employee seemed to be friendly. Apparently, she had managed to keep her soul, unlike the cashier. "So, what's the job usually like?"

"Eh, pretty quiet, usually. Sometimes we get the odd Huntsman looking for something, but mostly, there's not much going on. Say, you're a Huntress, aren't you?"

"In training. Mind handing me a pair of jeans?"

"Oh, sure." A pair was slung over the door, which Red quickly accepted. "Man, I can't imagine being a Huntress. It sounds like really interesting work."

"It is. Hard work, though."

"I bet. Yeah, this job is pretty easy compared to that. Most exciting thing that happened was when a Dust shop got robbed about a block away."

Red paused in the middle of zipping up the jeans. "A Dust shop got robbed?"

"Yeah, haven't you heard? Apparently, there have been a string of them all around Vale – Roman Torchwick usually, but sometimes the White Fang as well. Nobody's quite sure what it means, though; no idea why they would want all that Dust."

Red had a few ideas. With that much Dust, it would be child's play to set the stage for a large-scale attack of some kind – IEDs in the center of Vale, firebombs launched at important historical and gubernatorial sites, and enough ordinance to outgun a small Atlesian military base. The only problem was that none of that fit the profile for what Sienna usually did; her style focused more on targeted violence, specifically geared to put fear more into the hearts of those in power rather than the common man.

Had Red leaving suddenly derailed Sienna's vision for the White Fang? She couldn't see why; Sienna had been doing the same thing for months before she had come along, and even with her gone, there was no reason why the tiger Faunus would change what had been a solid strategy up to this point.

Plus, that didn't explain Torchwick's involvement. Red knew Sienna well enough to know that she would _never _work with a human. Had Torchwick just decided to copy the White Fang? If he had, why would he go for the Dust? It could have been because he wanted to sell it, but then why would he make a point not to take the money from the stores while he was at it?

Frankly, none of it made any sense.

"What are you planning, Sienna…?" Red quietly murmured to herself.

She gave herself a moment to think it over before shaking the thought from her head. She still had something to do, and getting sidetracked wouldn't help with it. The police could handle the White Fang; her only concern right now was getting through four years of Beacon, which meant devoting herself fully to the task at hand.

She emerged from the changing room clad in a fresh set of jeans. The girl in front of her hummed in approval.

"That's more like it," she said. "Yeah, going a bit darker was definitely the right call. Looks like I got your size right on the first time, too. How do they feel?"

"…A bit stiff," Red admitted. "People actually wear things like this for pleasure?"

At that, the girl chuckled. "Geez, you're really a Huntress to the core, aren't you? This might be a surprise to hear, but you're hardly the first to stop in who hasn't ever worn jeans before; you all tend to pick a style and stick to it, for some reason. Is that like a calling card for you guys?"

Red shrugged. Truthfully, she didn't know; whatever she wore, she did so because it was cheap and easily replaceable. She didn't quite understand some of the others who spent so much money on expensive outfits that were just going to get ruined after some time in the field.

She also didn't understand why Coco had balked when she had brought this up a few days ago, but given how people tended to react to the things she said, that was hardly a surprise anymore.

"Anyway, I've gotta say, you actually wear those pretty well," the girl complimented. "Do you like them?"

"...I don't know?" Red answered, uncertain. "They're definitely strange compared to what I usually wear..."

"You won't find much that's similar to your regular pants, unfortunately. Jeans and cargo pants are about the closest things to it, and if you're trying to diversify your style a bit, jeans are definitely the way to go between the two of them."

"...In that case, I think these are fine."

The girl smiled widely. "Great! Did you want another pair or two? There are some others in slightly different shades that would go great."

"I think she would, actually," Coco said, stepping around the corner. Red could see that she had a bundle of clothes in her hands. "Thanks, Susie."

The girl, Susie, grinned at her. "Hey, Coco. Didn't know you two were together."

"Yeah, I'm getting her a new wardrobe. She kinda needs it."

"That so?" Susie turned back towards Red. "You're in good hands; Coco knows her stuff. Anyway, I'll go grab some of those other jeans."

"Alright, cool," Coco said. Susie left, and she turned back to Red. "Got some shirts for you to try on. Nothing too fancy, just like you asked – just some plain, differently-colored shirts to change things up from your standard dark red."

Red accepted the armful of clothes, then retreated into the changing room. The next few minutes were spent presenting herself to Coco – she would exit the changing room, then Coco would determine whether or not the clothes looked good on her or not, as well as get her input as to whether or not she liked them. After a bit, they narrowed it down to just a few that were being kept.

"You know, I'm curious," Coco said, placing the last of the shirts into the rejected pile. "You wear long sleeves pretty well, but aren't you at all interested in trying something else?"

Red shook her head. Coco frowned. "Not even a little?" Again, she shook her head. "Well, could I at least see what you'd look like-"

She reached for Red's sleeve, and the wolf immediately intercepted her, clamping one hand around her wrist. Coco looked at her in surprise, and Red stared back unevenly. After a moment, the wolf blinked, then looked down at the floor.

"...Long sleeves only, please," she said softly, letting go of Coco's hand.

Coco rubbed her wrist, then nodded. "Right. Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, but please don't do it again."

"Don't worry. I didn't know it meant so much to you."

"I know."

No further words were exchanged between them. Coco seemed to decide that they needed a break, and after paying for the clothes, the two left the store. Red had expected to be taken to another store, but instead Coco directed her towards a coffee shop.

"You like coffee?" Coco asked as the two of them entered the store, bags in tow.

Red shook her head. She had never tried it before; Almost had kept her from drinking any kind of caffeine, apparently because he didn't want her becoming dependent on it.

Coco cracked a small smile. "Well, here's your chance."

"What do you suggest? I'm not really a fan of caffeine or sugar…" Red peered at the menu behind the counter. "Is there anything healthier than what's up there?"

Coco paused. "...I mean, you could try black coffee, but-"

"I'll try that, then."

"You sure about that? It's very bitter." Red nodded. Coco sighed. "Alright, your funeral. Find a table, and I'll join you in a bit."

Red did as she was told, settling into an unoccupied booth. A few minutes later, Coco sat across from her, carrying two steaming-hot mugs in a tray. She passed Red hers, warning her to wait for it to cool off a bit before trying to drink it. Eventually, it was deemed safe to drink, and the two of them dove in.

The ex-assassin took one small sip of her drink. As soon as it hit her throat, she recoiled, eyes widening in shock. She forced herself to swallow it, then began to cough, trying her best not to retch. Across from her, she was aware of Coco giggling softly, and she sent the older girl a harsh glare in return as she wiped her mouth off with a napkin.

"I warned you," Coco said, her voice full of mirth.

"How can you drink this stuff?" Red asked.

Again, Coco giggled. "Here, just trust me on this." She reached for Red's cup, then removed the lid. Next, she grabbed a small package of sugar and creamer from the table, adding a bit of each to the drink and stirring before passing it back to Red. "Here, now try."

Red gave her an apprehensive look, but figured that since Coco had paid for it, she should at least give it another shot. Reluctantly, she brought the cup up to her lips and took a sip… and to her surprise, it wasn't completely disgusting. In fact, it was actually somewhat pleasant – the sugar and creamer, while normally something she would avoid, helped to balance out the drink's inherent bitterness, but at the same time neither one was overpowering. After a moment, she went back for another sip.

"It's better, right?" Coco asked, earning a nod. She grinned once more, though this time it wasn't due to Red's misfortune. "I'm glad."

After that, the conversation tapered off. The two sat in silence, just enjoying their drinks and each other's company. When the initial shock of actually liking sugar wore off, Red was left wondering about something that had been bothering her for the past week.

"Hey, Coco?"

The brunette looked up from her scroll. "Yes?"

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Coco shook her head. "Why do you want to help me so much? I mean, you barely even knew me, but you still offered to help me out, and buy me clothes… Was it really just because I helped out your friend?"

Coco frowned, then pocketed her scroll. "That's part of it, but there's more to it than that. It's..." She paused, then shook her head. "It's personal, but I think maybe knowing where I'm coming from might help you. Mind if I talk for a bit?" Red shook her head, and Coco smiled gratefully before continuing.

"When I said I've been in your position before, I wasn't lying." Her smile faded and her tone became melancholy. "I didn't have the best home life for a while. My dad was..." She sighed. "...He was a real asshole, that's what he was. Liked to smack my mom around. Left me and my brothers alone until we were a bit older, but eventually he started targeting us, too. Real dirtbag."

"I'm sorry," Red replied.

Coco waved her off. "Don't be; it wasn't your fault. Anyway, one day he messed up real bad. Gave my mom a black eye by mistake… only he forgot that it was her birthday, and her brother – my uncle, who's a Huntsman – was stopping by to visit her that night. She ended up answering the door wearing sunglasses, he put two and two together, and..." She cracked a small smile. "...Let's just say that my biological dad is still missing. Not that anybody is looking too hard for him."

She reached for her cup, draining what was left before continuing. "Anyway, things got better after that. Mom ended up breaking into the fashion business in a major way, and eventually she met someone else who wasn't an asshole, and married him – far as I'm concerned, he's my real dad." Again, she frowned. "'Course, it wasn't easy – my biological dad's abuse fucked me up real bad for a while. My brothers too, not to mention my mom, but I had it the worst out of everyone." Her shoulders slumped. "I pretty much shut down for a while. Didn't say much to anyone, or do much of anything. Kind of just went through the motions every day, you know? Like life was just a chore more than anything." She glanced over at Red. "Kind of like what you were doing. See where I'm going with this?"

Red nodded. "...What did you do?"

"Honestly? Whatever my therapist told me. I don't know if you've got one, but if you need one, I'd say you should get one. Beacon has some good ones on staff."

The wolf Faunus wasn't sure what therapy was, but perhaps it was something to look into. She nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, he sort of started me off small – things like learning to trust again, how to communicate, stuff like that. Kind of what I have you doing now." She shrugged. "It worked for me, so I figured-"

"You figured right..." Red admitted.

"Well, you're the best person to ask," Coco said, smiling softly. "But now do you see why?"

"You think I'm similar to how you were."

"Not exactly similar, but close – I won't claim to know what you've gone through, only that it wasn't good. Am I wrong?"

Red considered saying that she was. Ultimately, though, it wouldn't have made a difference; Blake already knew that part about her past, as did Ozpin. Compared to them, Coco knowing wouldn't really matter. Instead she nodded.

The brunette slumped down in her seat. "...I'm actually sorry to hear that," she muttered. "I was hoping I was wrong."

"Not your fault."

"I know, but still." She checked her scroll for the time. "Are you good to go? We still have to finish clothes shopping, plus you still need to get fitted for a suit."

Red nodded, then drained what was left of her coffee before standing up. The two of them left the coffee shop, then continued on to their next series of stops.

* * *

Hours later, the two of them stumbled into Red's dorm, arms loaded down with bags of clothes and one garment bag. The two of them carefully moved over to the closet, then pushed Red's school uniforms to the side and began to hang up her new clothes, starting with the suit. Placing the garment bag on the rack, Red tried not to wince as she recalled the price. Coco had told her not to worry about it, that she was worth every penny, but it was hard to feel like anything besides a charity case when the suit alone cost as much as all the other clothes combined. And that was before adding in the collared shirts, the cotton undershirts, the ties, the belt, the shoes, the socks… privately, Red made a promise to find some way to pay Coco back in the future.

Overall, it had been a successful outing. Coco had goaded Red into talking with people at every store they went to, and while it had started off somewhat rough with her mainly sticking to the questions Coco fed her, by the end she had gotten a lot more comfortable with it. By the time she was being fitted for a suit, she had even started adding in a few questions of her own, which she had thought up on-the-fly. Her speaking voice was slightly more confident, and she was less intimidated by the questions people asked her in return. Still, it was clear there was a lot of work to be done – she was still essentially following a script, and it still felt incredibly awkward talking with people – but for now, it was a start.

Coco finished hanging up all the clothes, then stretched out her arms and cracked her neck. She sighed in relief, then turned to Red.

"Did you have a good time?"

Red nodded. Spending time with Coco actually had been very nice, though that could be due to the fact that they weren't in the Faunus-heavy part of town, which meant almost no risk of running into the White Fang. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten to see Tukson again, but she was sure that Blake would go with her if she asked.

Coco smiled widely. "I'm glad." Her scroll chimed, and she pulled it out of her pocket. "Well, looks like team leader duty calls – training session with everyone else." She put her scroll away, then turned back to Red. "You want to tag along? I'd be interested in seeing what the girl who nearly beat Pyrrha Nikos can do – and yes, we all know about that," she added upon seeing Red's shocked expression.

For a moment, Red considered it. Getting to spar with upperclassmen could be highly beneficial for her. If it was just going to be her and Coco, she probably would have agreed, but with Coco's entire team there… well, if they were Coco's friends then they couldn't be all bad, but there was no way she was ready to spend time in such a large group, especially not when she was already feeling drained from their outing together. She shook her head.

Coco clicked her tongue. "Some other time, then. You just take some time to relax, you must be exhausted after today." She looked back towards the closet. "Maybe pick out an outfit to wear. There's nothing like new clothes."

Red nodded, and again, she meant it. If Coco had spent all that money on her, there was no way she was going to let it go to waste.

"Anyway, I'll see you around, Red," Coco said, moving to the door. "If you want to hang out or even just talk, send me a message."

"Sure," Red replied. Coco seemed pleased with that, and with a final goodbye, the second-year left, leaving Red all alone. The Faunus stared at the door for a moment before moving over to the closet, picking out some clothes and putting them on. She then moved over to the mirror mounted on the back of the door to look at herself.

Dark blue jeans, black leather belt, a bright red shirt… it was different, but it all felt nice. She was definitely going to be keeping these. Pulling the tags off, she threw them into the trash before moving over to her bed and grabbing her copy of _Black __Tooth__, _then settling in for a quiet afternoon of reading.

For the first time since arriving at Beacon, and despite her own inner turmoil, Red Canis couldn't help but feel slightly at peace.

* * *

"Ah, Miss Canis. You're a bit early, but that isn't a problem. Please, come in."

Red nodded, taking a seat across from the headmaster. He poured himself a mug of cocoa before offering her one as well, same as he always did. Every time before now, she had refused. Now, she hesitated before nodding. He raised one eyebrow, but passed a mug to her all the same. She took a sip, and after finding it somewhat palatable, took another.

"I like your new outfit," Ozpin said, gesturing to what she was wearing. It was a simple affair – tan cargo pants and shoes, a brown belt, and a burgundy shirt. "It looks very nice on you."

Red nodded appreciatively. "Coco picked it out for me."

"Miss Adel? Yes, I heard from some of the other professors that the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. I take it that she is another friend of yours, then?"

The wolf thought for a moment. From what Blake had told her, Coco certainly fit the definition of a friend – that is, they spent a lot of time together, and Red was beginning to trust her.

"...Yes," she replied after a moment.

The corners of Ozpin's mouth quirked upwards. "I'm glad to hear that. Her and Miss Solandra get along well?"

"Yes."

"As they should; I see no reason why the two of them would not. Still, it does not hurt to be sure. And what of the rest of her team?"

"...I'm still getting used to them."

Ozpin nodded, then sipped from his cocoa. "And your own team?"

This time, Red didn't have a response. She stared at him, wide-eyed, before diverting her gaze down to the floor in shame. Ozpin sighed softly, then put his mug down.

"You will have to reach out to them eventually, you know," he pressed. "You are the team leader. You cannot isolate yourself from them."

"I know."

"Then why do you continue to push them away? I understand that you and Miss Schnee may have your grievances with each other, but both of you are going to have to confront them eventually, and waiting is not going to make doing so any easier. Why not do it and be done with it?"

Again, she had no answer, instead continuing to stare down at the floor. Once more, Ozpin sighed.

"I cannot push you into doing this, only encourage you to. You need to approach Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao Long before the cracks in your team are irreparable. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

He settled back into his seat, then picked up his mug. "Good. See to it that you get it done as soon as possible." He paused for a sip. "Now then, let's move on. Last week, we talked a bit about your life before Beacon. Do you mind continuing where we left off?"

"When I was first taken in by Azul?"

"If you'd please."

"Right." She wracked her brain, recalling her backstory. "Like I said last time, he caught me trying to pickpocket him. Rather than beat me, he took pity on me and offered me a place to stay."

"And you believed him?"

"At first? No. I had seen what happened to some of the other girls who accepted charity from strange men – they disappeared, and if they ever came back, they were never the same again. No, I was scared… but at the same time, winter was coming, I had no warm clothes that fit, and I hadn't eaten in almost a week." She shrugged. "I was desperate. Luckily, he treated me right."

Ozpin sipped at his cocoa. "And how long was it before he started training you?"

"About a month – he waited until I wasn't so malnourished and unhealthy before telling me about it. Said that if I was going to stay, that he was going to need me to watch his back in the future, plus start pulling my own weight when I got old enough."

"And you agreed?"

"Yes," Red said with a nod. "He saved my life and took me in when nobody else would, why wouldn't I have agreed? I owed him a debt, and if that was what it took to repay it, then that was what I would do."

Ozpin put his mug down, then began to type on his scroll. "And your training – what did it consist of?"

"Everything. Aura and semblance practice, hand-to-hand, various survival skills, guns, knives… anything, really. According to him, because it was just going to be the two of us without a team to back us up, I was going to have to be well-rounded."

"Freelancers tend to be," Ozpin pointed out. "He was correct in that assumption. What was he like as a mentor?"

"Hard. Practice was from sunup to sundown six days out of the week, and the seventh day was spent learning some kind of useful skill. Once I turned thirteen, he added weight training to my regimen, so practice was extended for another few hours past sundown."

"He certainly sounds like a hard instructor," Ozpin said. He took his hands off the keyboard, then turned to her, a stern look on his face. "Tell me, what happened if you failed in a task?"

Red felt her heart skip a beat. The feeling confused her – he was just asking a question. Why, then, did it bother her so much? She felt the scar on her stomach start to burn softly and squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable. Memories of her mentor – her _real _mentor – came back, namely what he would do to her if she ever failed to please him in some way. She could see the scowl on his face, hear the sneer in his voice, as if he was standing right in front of her.

"Miss Canis."

At the sound of her headmaster's voice, she jumped slightly. Looking back towards him, she found him staring at her, his expression unreadable.

"R-right..." she stammered out, still unnerved. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "...I mean, he didn't really do much in those cases. Usually, he just made me practice whatever I was doing until I got it right."

"Usually?"

She hesitated, knowing she had let something slip. "...Yeah, usually."

"And in those unusual cases, what did he do?"

Her gaze met Ozpin's once more, and she looked away, swallowing nervously once more. It was a mistake to react even slightly, she knew, but she couldn't help herself, not when discussions of her fake mentor brought up very real memories of things her actual mentor had done to her. Ozpin's eyes narrowed.

"I see," he said, his voice suddenly growing an edge to it. "Perhaps it would be best if we move on," he ventured.

Red said nothing, only nodding in response.

"Okay. Now, tell me about how your classes are going."

She did. For the rest of the time, they discussed menial things – how her grades were improving, how she was getting more accustomed to talking to people, how she was enjoying spending time with Blake and Coco. Not once did he bring up her 'mentor' again. Despite that, she couldn't help but be haunted by the memories her _mentor _had left her.

When their session finally ended, she wasted no time in bidding Ozpin a hasty goodbye and leaving.

For some reason, she _really _wanted to see Blake or Coco right now…

* * *

Ozpin watched his student go. Once he was sure she was gone, he sighed heavily, then pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk. Retrieving the half-empty bottle from within, he poured a bit of it into his cocoa before putting it back into the drawer. Taking a sip, he then turned back to his scroll and sent a message to his second-in-command.

She was there in a matter of minutes, standing across from him with her arms folded over her chest.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"I want any information you can dig up on Alex Azul," he replied.

"You think I haven't been looking? I've called in every favor I have with my contacts in Mistral, not to mention the fact that I've got Qrow asking around about him whenever he's over there looking for the Maidens. Like I've told you, the man's a ghost." She put her hands on her hips. "What brought this on?"

"You know I can't tell you."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "He beat her, didn't he?"

Ozpin said nothing in response. She exhaled irritably.

"That son of a bitch..." she muttered.

"Glynda."

"Don't tell me to control myself, Oz. I see her every day in class – I've seen that she spends all her time staring off into space at nothing in particular. I've been a Huntress long enough to recognize a thousand-yard stare when I see it." She pushed her glasses up slightly with one finger. "So, what are we going to do about him? Obviously, he can't be allowed to roam free."

"I must admit, I am surprised by how you are taking it."

"Oz, he _ruined _that girl. There's something wrong with her under the hood, and I think it's all because of him. Have you even considered that maybe he's the reason she's so willing to kill? For all we know, he had her murdering homeless people in the slums in order to practice for later. Someone like that can't be allowed out with the general population."

"I agree, but until we find something about him, our hands are tied."

"Then why did you call me here?"

"Because I want you to contact James and see if he has anything on him."

Glynda scowled. "Why can't you do it?"

"Because I know James, and I know that he'll likely brush off my concerns as unimportant. After all, what's one scumbag compared to Salem?"

"And you think he'll be more likely to listen to me?"

Ozpin simply stared at her. After a few seconds, she sighed.

"I'll give him a call," she relented. Glaring at Ozpin, she added, "But I won't like it."

"Thank you, Glynda. Hopefully something comes from this."

She nodded in agreement, then turned on her heels and entered the elevator, leaving Ozpin alone in his office. Looking over at the file on his computer, he read over it one more time to make sure he hadn't missed anything before sighing heavily and leaning back in his seat.

"At least you're here rather than with him," Ozpin said to himself.

* * *

Blake couldn't remember ever being this engrossed in a book before. Part of that was due to how long she had waited to get her hands on it – it was something that had been announced years ago, but circumstance had kept it from coming out until recently – but most of it was due to the content of the book, which was simply incredible, for lack of a better term.

The book itself was a biography, and one that was surprisingly full of twists and turns for something that was about an actual person. It chronicled a young woman's journey from an orphan in one of Vale's frontier towns up to her time at Beacon, and from what she had read, it seemed like it was going to culminate in a snapshot of her domestic life. Of course, she knew how it ended – the subject of the book had died years ago. Still, reading her journey, getting to know her through her hardships and the legacy she had left behind, seeing just how much she meant to so many people… it was nothing short of breathtaking.

Of course, there was one oddity about it, that being that it seemed to almost parallel the life of Blake's own team leader – a young wolf Faunus, taken in and trained by someone after being orphaned and left on her own, then accepted into Beacon and placed on a team of misfits… yeah, it was strange. The fact that Red constantly wore a cloak just like the subject of the book was also rather funny.

The door to the room opened, but Blake didn't bother to look up from her book. It wasn't Red – the wolf Faunus would still be in her meeting with Ozpin about now. That left just Weiss and Yang, and neither one warranted her attention, Weiss for obvious reasons and Yang because as much as Blake didn't have beef with her, a book this good demanded her attention in a way that the blonde didn't.

There were footsteps next to her, and out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw a flash of yellow. Yang seemed to be searching for something, but to the ravenette's disguise, her partner quickly turned to her instead.

"Hey, Blake."

Blake sighed softly, somewhat irritated at being interrupted. "Yes?"

Yang gestured to her book. "Oh, nothing. Just noticed you reading that book."

"What about it?"

The blonde shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Just wanted to ask what you thought about it."

Blake blinked, surprised. Part of her was confused about why Yang even cared – the blonde seemed to have an aversion to reading, to the point where she basically only studied as hard as it took for her to get passing grades, much to Weiss' annoyance – but that was beside the point. Literature this good deserved to be shared, even with someone who might have only been trying to make small talk.

"If I'm being honest, it's one of the best books I've ever read," she reported. "It's informative, but also incredibly gripping, especially for a biography."

"Oh, I'm happy to hear that. Have you gotten to the part where her and her partner got into a fight and nearly burned down the first-year dorms?"

Again, Blake blinked. "...Uh, no? How would you know about that, anyway?"

Yang simply grinned slyly. "I mean, I ought to know about my own mother's book, don't you think?"

Blake stared at her blankly as she tried in vain to process what had just been said. "Your mother?"

"Well, stepmom, but she was more of a mom to me than my actual mom, so I call her Mom." Yang shrugged. "My biological mother isn't really a mother to me as much as she's just my egg donor, if that makes sense."

The disguised Faunus was dumbfounded. "So… Summer is your-"

"Yup!" Yang replied. "She hooked up with my dad, Taiyang, after the bitch ran out on us when I was born." She paused. "...Uh, sorry if I'm spoiling-"

Blake frantically shook her head. "No! No, not at all! In fact, I'd like nothing than to hear more about her."

"Really? Man, that must be a really good book."

"You haven't read it?"

"Not yet, but I know the gist of what's in it – Dad's been talking to a publisher about it for years, trying to help them get all the details right. He even had me help him with a few parts of it, so I know how it's going to go. I'll definitely read it at some point, but I don't see a reason to rush it – I mean, I kind of know Mom more than anybody else, save for my dad and my uncle." Again, she shrugged. "So, what do you want to know?"

Blake hesitated. She had been so excited to meet someone who had known Summer firsthand that she hadn't put much thought into what to actually ask Yang before she had blurted that out.

"...What was she like?" she finally asked.

Yang sighed wistfully. "She was… well, she was amazing, to put it simply. My sister and I liked to call her Supermom – baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. Truth is, she was more than that. It takes a certain kind of person to step in and treat a kid that isn't theirs like she's their own, but Summer did that. In fact, she did it so well that I didn't even know she wasn't the woman who gave birth to me until my dad sat me down and told me when I was twelve." She grinned softly. "Probably should have guessed, considering that I didn't look like her at all, and the only thing I got from my dad was his hair color and part of his eye color."

"That must have been hard."

"You don't know the half of it. Really, it just made me hate my biological mother even more – my dad spent years grieving, and both him and me needed someone there for us, but she was nowhere to be found. Not only that, but not once did she come to visit me when I was sick and dying in a hospital bed." She scowled. "Dad didn't tell me for so long because he was afraid I might try and search for her, but I don't care about that. I don't care if I go my whole life without meeting that woman. She's nothing to me – she doesn't care about me, and I don't care about her. Besides, I have a sister to look for already."

"Your sister?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah. My little sister, she's… she's been missing since the day my mom died." Her face fell, and her voice took on a somber tone. "It's been ten years, and we still don't know what happened to her. Nobody does. We've looked all across Remnant, trying to find something. Even enlisted the help of some family friends a few years back on Menagerie, but they didn't have anything either." She sighed sadly. "And if the Belladonna family of all people can't come up with anything..."

Blake's eyes widened at the mention of her family, but thankfully Yang was looking at the floor rather than at her. Quickly recovering, she looked back to her partner, giving her a sympathetic expression.

"Tell me about her," Blake said gently. "It's clear you care about her a lot."

Yang chuckled softly, brushing at the edges of her eyes. "Yeah, that's putting it mildly. My sister… she was my best friend for as long as I can remember. We did everything together; the two of us were inseparable."

"What'd she look like?"

"Does that book have a picture of my mom on it somewhere?"

"Yeah, on the cover."

"Then literally just picture a five-year-old Summer. She had the same hair, the same eyes, the same Faunus trait, even the same sunny and upbeat personality, though unlike Summer she hadn't mellowed with age at all. She was _adorable, _though she'd throw a fit if you ever called her that, insisting that she was a 'super-cool future Huntress' instead."

Yang let out another chuckle, once again brushing at her eyes. "I miss her so much..."

Blake gave her a sympathetic glance. "I'm sure you'll find her one day," she said gently. "And I promise that I'll do what I can to help you."

Yang looked at her, surprised. "You'd do that for me?"

Blake nodded. "Of course. We're partners, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I just-" She paused, then shook her head, instead giving Blake a big smile. "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

"Don't thank me when I haven't done anything yet."

"Trust me, promising to help is enough. We'll need whoever we can get, even if all they do is ask around when they're between missions."

"I'll be sure to do that, then."

It was a bit strange for her to be willing to devote herself to this when she didn't even know Yang that well, she had to admit, but she didn't care. Summer seemed like a fantastic person, and her daughter deserved to be reunited with her family.

Plus, Blake would be lying if she said that Yang's description of her sister didn't remind her of Red at least a little. Sure, the backstories, hair color, eye color, personality, and age were different for Red, but something about the story just instantly put Red's face in her mind. She couldn't explain it, but it was definitely there. For a brief moment, when Yang had been describing her sister, Blake had even connected her to Red, only to quickly push that thought away.

After all, what were the odds that the exact person that Yang was looking for, who had disappeared without a trace ten years ago and had gone undetected for just as long, was actually right there with them?

Yang wiped at her eyes one last time, then gave Blake a grateful nod. "Anyway, thanks for that, Blake."

"It's no problem," the ravenette replied.

"No, trust me. It means more than you think it does."

Blake didn't argue. Yang took a breath to compose herself, then went back to what she was doing.

"Anyway, I just wanted to get a textbook – I've got a study group with Weiss and Jaune's team in a bit."

At the mention of the heiress' name, Blake's slight smile faded. She nodded. "Alright."

Nothing further was said between them. Yang quickly found her book, and after exchanging goodbyes, she left, closing the door behind her. Blake watched her go, then turned her attention back to her book.

Needless to say, Yang continued to be full of surprises. The last thing she had expected was to have Summer's stepdaughter – or, rather, her _daughter; _Yang seemed insistent that that was the case, and would probably take offense at being called anything else – as her partner, but it was far from an unpleasant development. Rather, it was a nice surprise, one that was once again forcing her to re-evaluate Yang as a person.

She had known that her distrust for humans had diminished since coming to Beacon – her interactions with Coco were enough to prove that – but to think that she had nearly written off Yang, who probably had more reason to care about Faunus than any other human she had ever met… well, that rubbed her the wrong way.

Of course, there were still a few things that irked her.

_How can somebody like Yang still be willing to give somebody like Weiss a chance?_

She didn't have an answer for that, which was irritating. Somehow she doubted that Weiss had many hidden depths – she was a Schnee, after all. Still, perhaps there was something she was missing, even if she had no idea what that could possibly be.

And as for the other…

_Where on Remnant could her sister actually be?  
_

Again, she had no answer, which was as saddening as it was worrying. If it had been ten years with no trace, which likely meant she was dead, but Blake would never tell that to Yang. The blond still seemed to have nothing but hope that her sister was still alive, and Blake refused to rob her of that, and not just because it was the right thing to do.

Her scroll suddenly felt like it was burning a hole in her pocket, but she ignored it.

They wouldn't want to talk to her after all she had done to them, anyway.

* * *

Red stalked through the halls, her mind occupied with thoughts of her session with Ozpin. She hated that he had managed to pry a bit of backstory out of her, and that she had done a terrible job of hiding it when something really started to prod at her. Still, at least she hadn't given him _too _much to work with – her story, it seemed, was still intact. Sure, it was probably a bit too early to know for sure, but the fact that he hadn't immediately called her out on it or honed in on any possible inconsistencies was reassuring.

With her meeting now over, the weekend was hers. Generally she spent it training, working out, and studying, but recently she had been hanging out with Coco and Blake a lot more. No doubt they would want to do the same this weekend, and as much as she was afraid to admit it, she was coming to enjoy her time with them. Making connections should have been the last thing on her mind, but if they were unavoidable, then she could at least make them meaningful.

Sure, it would make the future a lot more difficult, but she had been without any form of companionship for ten years. As far as Red was concerned, a little respite couldn't hurt.

But for now, she had other things to do before seeking out Blake or Coco and her team. For one, there was homework – she had received a lot of it over the weekend, now that the school year had taken off. Homework was a new experience for her, and as much as she wanted to ignore if because of how useless it seemed, doing so would probably get her kicked out from Beacon. That meant it had to be done.

Turning a corner, Red headed for the locker room. She had stowed her equipment and books in her locker, not wanting to make Ozpin suspicious by once more arriving decked out in her combat gear. Entering the locker room, she made straight for her locker, stopping in front of it. She was about to unlock it when she smelled something foul coming from inside. Wrinkling her nose, she reluctantly punched in her combination and opened the door, sighing tiredly at what she found.

In addition to the standard array of racist notes someone kept slipping into her locker, someone else had apparently thought it would be funny to dump a jar of what looked like old grease from Beacon's kitchen through the slits in her locker. No doubt they had intended to ruin her textbooks by doing so, forcing her to pay for them. Unfortunately for the would-be prankster, she had happened to put her books on the top shelf of her locker after class, meaning they were safe. Her combat gear, however, was covered in grease, but thankfully all that could be washed away easily enough with a quick run through the washing machine.

Gathering her dirty gear together, Red pulled out anything that didn't need to go in the washing machine – bulletproof plates, loaded magazines, the works – and, carrying what was left in a ball under her arm, stepped out of the locker room.

She was unprepared for someone to suddenly stick their leg out in front of her, tripping her. She fell forwards, her gear slipping from her grasp and scattering onto the ground. Out of instinct, she dropped into a roll, just barely managing to avoid the bucket of kitchen grease that someone had attempted to dump on her as she fell.

Landing a few feet away, she dropped into a combat stance, fists raised as she bounced on the balls of her feet. The three boys in front of her stared at her, apparently dumbfounded that their idiotic prank hadn't worked.

"Sky, you idiot, you missed!" Cardin hissed.

"She got lucky," the blue-haired boy mumbled.

"Blame Dove," Russel interjected. "Probably could've just held her in place if we had him here to help."

Now seeing that she wasn't in mortal danger, Red allowed herself to relax. It was just Cardin and two of his stupid teammates. The third, apparently, had enough common sense to realize that whatever they had planned was asinine, seemingly having gone so far as to refuse to participate at all.

Well, at least one of them wasn't completely stupid.

Red stared at the three boys, who had started to bicker amongst themselves now that their prank had been foiled. Rolling her eyes, she went and picked up her combat gear, tucking it under one arm once more.

"Hey," she called, getting their attention.

"The fuck you want?" Cardin sneered.

"I just want to know if Colt set you up for this."

Cardin shook his head. "No idea who you're talking about."

Yeah, okay. This whole prank seemed like way too much thought had gone into it for it to be one of Cardin's, especially given how easily it had been foiled by her. She didn't believe for a second that someone else hadn't set the three of them up for it, and from what she could remember, there was only one other team at Beacon that had reason to dislike her enough to try something like this.

Still, she couldn't exactly prove it. Sighing tiredly, she once again turned to Cardin. "Tell Colt that what I said still stands. I don't care what happens to me, but if he or anyone else messes with my team, I'll kill him."

Cardin simply rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Clearly, he thought she was being hyperbolic. Part of her was tempted to correct him on that, but she could tell that it wouldn't amount to much – he still didn't think of her as all that strong, even after her fight with Pyrrha. Plus, there was no way Colt had told everyone about how she had dismantled his teammate, so she couldn't exactly rely on her reputation to get Cardin to reconsider.

Instead, she nodded and moved on, leaving them behind. She wasn't stupid enough to think this would be the end of it, but if this was truly the worst she had to deal with, she could manage. This was still nothing compared to what Almost had put her through. It didn't even seem like it was worth getting Ozpin involved – what they had tried was annoying and childish, sure, but it was ultimately harmless, and she doubted that the headmaster would appreciate being brought in to deal with some so stupid. She just hoped, for everyone's sake, that Colt and Cardin weren't dumb enough to test the ultimatum she had given them.

Because there was no telling what might happen if they did.

* * *

The weekend went almost as fast as it arrived. Somehow, when she was with Blake and Coco, time seemed to fly. Before she knew it, it was Monday once more, and she was back in class. Things went on as normal, and before long, Red found herself seated in Goodwitch's class, once again watching the clock. As class started, Goodwitch stepped into the center of the arena, scroll in hand.

"It has been a few weeks," she began. "I have evaluated you all individually, and done what I could to help those who needed it with the basics of their fighting style. At this point, I think it is time for us to move on. Starting today, we will begin focusing on partner-based combat."

Red eyes widened. Looking over at Weiss, she saw that the heiress had a similar expression on her face. This development was hardly unexpected, but clearly they had both underestimated how much time Goodwitch would want to spend on individual combatants.

"Now then, let's not waste any more time. I would like the partnerships of Red Canis and Weiss Schnee, as well as Vert Ashley and Yuzu Jade, to come down."

Something told her that her being selected wasn't a coincidence, and that Ozpin probably had something to do with it. Still, an order was an order. Reluctantly, she rose from her seat, exchanging a glance with Weiss as she did so. The heiress scowled, then looked away. Red sighed, lowering her head as she walked.

Things just couldn't be easy, could they?

The four of them took their places in the arena, Red and Weiss on one side and Blau and Yuzu on the others. Red appraised both her opponents – Vert was a tall green-haired boy dressed in an all-black bodysuit and black balaclava, carrying what looked like a bullpup PDW, while Yuzu was slightly shorter, with red eyes and purple hair tied back in a ponytail, and a long tachi sheathed and held in her right hand.

"Combatants ready?" Goodwitch asked.

"Ready," the four of them replied.

"Standby… begin."

As soon as the words left her mouth, everything fell apart. Vert raised his gun towards Weiss, and Red felt her heart begin to pound at the sight of it. Against her better judgment, she rushed forward just as the first burst of rounds left the weapon, feeling them ping harmlessly off her aura. She was on Vert in an instant, grappling him into submission with a side choke before ripping his gun from his hands, leveling it towards his partner, and emptying what remained in the weapon's fifty-round magazine into her.

Yuzu lurched in surprise as dozens of armor-piercing rounds impacted against her aura. Red quickly drew her pistol, emptying the entire magazine into her captive and knocking his aura deeply into the red. Reloading, she pushed him aside before rushing Yuzu, not even bothering to dodge her opponent's lightning-fast slash before leveling her gun square at the girl's face and squeezing off seven rounds as fast as her gun's hair trigger would let her.

Yuzu crumpled to the ground, her aura nearly gone, as a loud buzzer sounded.

"The winners are Miss Canis and Miss Schnee," Professor Goodwitch announced. She sounded highly unimpressed. "Miss Canis, do keep in mind that these are intended to be partner exercises. Next time, allow your partner to participate as well."

Red felt her heart lurch. She turned towards Weiss, who gave her a pointed glare before sliding her sword into her belt and marching away angrily. Red bowed her head in shame, meekly following her back.

Once they were both seated, Weiss rounded on her.

"What was that?!" the heiress hissed.

Red flinched, but said nothing. Weiss growled softly.

"Have you lost your damn mind?! What, you think I need your help? That I'm not good enough to be here on my own?!"

"Leave her alone, Weiss," Blake warned.

"No, not this time. I have put up with this for too long, and it ends here." Weiss turned back towards Red, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Listen carefully: I don't need your help, and more importantly, I don't need you. I don't know what Ozpin was thinking, but he made a mistake letting you into this school and making you leader, you stupid animal."

"Weiss-" Yang began.

"Enough!" Blake interrupted. Weiss turned to her, and the two exchanged glares. "She made a mistake, but that's no reason to bite her head off."

"Mind your own business, Solandra."

"Red's business _is _my business, since she's my friend. Not that you would know what having friends is like, Schnee."

"That's enough, both of you," Yang interjected, pushing her way between them. Exchanging pointed glares with each, she added, "Let's all sit back and cool down, alright? We can discuss this later-"

"More like never," Weiss replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Whatever these two have to say, I don't care."

"Weiss-"

"No! I have given Red every chance to prove she's changed, and she still hasn't. And Blake clearly isn't interested in anything I have to say. What's the point of even trying?"

"For once, we agree on something," Blake replied.

Exasperated, Yang turned to Red. "You're the team leader; do something."

Red met her gaze briefly before looking down at the floor. Weiss exhaled irritably.

"Typical," the heiress spat.

Suddenly, Yang stood up, taking her friend by the hand. "We're changing seats," she announced.

"Good; get out of here," Blake said nonchalantly, waving them both off.

Yang felt her aura begin to flare and knew her eyes had started to change, but did her best to ignore Blake's comment as she led Weiss to a set of unoccupied seats far away.

Red watched the two of them go. The small amount of relief she felt was eclipsed by the feeling of failure. Next to her, she heard Blake mutter something about not needing either of them.

Despite her more rational side screaming that Blake was right, she couldn't help but disagree, and she wasn't sure why.

* * *

"Start talking."

Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. "About what?"

"You know what."

Combat Class had ended just a few minutes ago. The instant it did, Yang had grabbed Weiss and retreated to her dorm room. Something more was at play here than what it initially appeared, and she was going to find out what it was.

Weiss sighed tiredly. "I really don't know what you're getting at, Yang."

"You and Red."

"What about it?"

"There's something else going on, isn't there? Something you haven't told me."

"And what could that possibly be? You know my reasons for not liking her – she makes me look like a fool, and I dislike Faunus anyway based on principle. There's nothing more to discuss."

"I disagree."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

It wasn't hard to figure out. Weiss clearly hated being made a fool of, but if that was the case, she would've treated Jaune just as badly as she did Red, and even when he couldn't take a hint, Jaune still got off easy compared to how Weiss tended to act around Red. At first, Yang had suspected that Weiss was telling her the truth when she had said that she disliked Red because the younger girl tended to make her look bad, but the racial slur had thrown that into doubt.

Suddenly, it was starting to look like her racism ran a bit deeper than she let on.

"For starters, I want to know which part makes you dislike her more. Is it because you think she's embarrassing you, or is it because she's a Faunus?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does to me," Yang insisted. She ran her hands through her hair, then sighed. "Weiss, we're friends. We disagree about Faunus, but I'm willing to be your friend despite that. But if you're going to be going around, tossing slurs towards my team leader? That's not something I'll be able to tolerate."

Weiss blinked, surprised. "...Right, your family..." she muttered. "I didn't mean to-"

Yang held up a hand. "Stop. I don't care if you were directing it towards my family or not. That's not something you say to a Faunus, especially not the way you said it."

Weiss looked unsure of what to think, but slumped down after a moment. "...Sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," Yang pointed out. "But first, I want you to answer my question. Why do you hate Faunus so much?"

The heiress looked up once more. Her gaze met Yang's, and upon seeing that there wasn't a hint of malice in her friend's eyes, she sighed heavily.

"...This doesn't leave this room, okay?" she asked.

Yang stared, taken aback by her friend's sudden change in tone. In the blink of an eye, she had gone from proud and unafraid to meek and frightened. Slowly, she nodded.

"Whatever it is, it's safe with me," the blonde promised.

Weiss nodded gratefully, then took a breath.

"...It's not exactly a secret as to why the Schnee family hates Faunus," she began. "The White Fang has been targeting my company and my family for years. Board members have disappeared without warning, then turned up in pieces days later. Relatives of mine have been executed on camera, and then the footage was emailed to the entire company. I've had death threats sent to me personally since I first entered the public eye with my singing career when I was thirteen. One time, a man tried to sneak into a concert of mine with a gun and a suicide vest, and almost managed to get past security before being detained."

Yang felt a pang of sympathy. "Weiss, I'm sor-"

Weiss cut her off with a shake of her head. "...That's not the worst of it," she said softly. She swallowed, then looked away.

"...Two years ago, I was on my way to negotiate a deal with a client of ours – father's idea; he said I needed to get used to it if I was going to be heiress. I was traveling with a team of four elite Huntsmen as bodyguards. I could have had more, but why would I? It wasn't going to be a long drive, and it was in the middle of Atlas. I thought I was safe."

Again, she swallowed the lump in her throat. When she spoke again, her voice wavered with every word, as if she was on the verge of tears.

"...We were attacked about fifteen minutes out. This… this _monster, _they… they just killed my bodyguards like nothing, slaughtered them like _cattle…" _She began to shake with fear, and rubbed at the corners of her eyes. "T-they ripped the door off the car I was in to get to me. They – _she _was like death incarnate – dressed in white winter gear soaked with blood, carrying a huge scythe dripping with what used to be my bodyguards… I thought I was dead."

She paused briefly to collect herself, rubbing at her eyes once more. "...I've never been so scared in my life," she admitted. "Even now, I still get scared thinking about it. I have nightmares almost every night..."

That was enough for Yang. She wasted no time in wrapping her arms around her friend, pulling her close. Weiss tensed at the sudden physical contact, but relented after a moment, leaning into the blonde's touch and allowing herself to gently cry it out in front of another person for the first time in years.

After several minutes, she gently pulled away from Yang, who reluctantly let her go.

"Thanks for that..." Weiss said, dabbing at her eyes. "...You're probably wondering what this has to do with Red, aren't you?"

"That person was a Faunus, weren't they?"

"Yes, she was. She was a wolf Faunus."

Yang tensed. "...Oh."

Weiss hesitated, debating whether to tell Yang the next part. Finally, she decided that her friend deserved to hear it.

"There's more," Weiss admitted. "The wolf Faunus… if I remember right, she had red-tipped black hair and silver eyes."

Immediately, Yang sat bolt upright. "You're sure?! But that sounds like-"

"I know," Weiss replied. "When you told me about your sister a few weeks ago, I instantly made the connection."

The blonde's eyes widened. "Wait, you can't be saying-"

"What? No! No, of course not! There's no way a thirteen-year-old tore through four elite Huntsmen!" Weiss took a breath to calm herself. "...No, I know it wasn't your sister. How could it have been? There's no way she would have gotten that skilled in just eight years, and there's no way she would go from the sweet girl you described her as to… to _that…_" She shook her head. "I just thought it was worth mentioning, is all. I have no idea what to make of it."

Yang relaxed. "...Yeah, you're right," she said, before inhaling sharply. "...Sorry. I'm just so desperate for news that-"

"I understand. If my sister was missing, I would do the same."

"That just raises the question of what's going on, though..." Yang pointed out. "Maybe someone trying to copy my mom? She was a pretty popular Huntress among Faunus, and lots of people blamed Atlas for her being unarmed when she was attacked and murdered. Maybe somebody trying to make a statement?"

"Maybe..." Weiss said, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "...Can we change the subject? I don't want to talk about it any further..."

"Sure," Yang replied instantly. She sighed. "Look, hearing that… I kind of understand where you're coming from. But Red isn't the same woman who attacked you two years ago."

"I know!" Weiss said sharply. Seeing Yang flinch, she shrank slightly. "...I know," she repeated, much more quietly. "Logically, I know. But in my head..."

"I understand, but you can't keep going on like this. The four of us are stuck together, and being at each other's throats isn't going to work."

"So, what, you're suggesting I just get over myself?"

"No! Gods, no!" Yang quickly retorted. "What I think needs to happen is that you and Red need to actually interact and find some common ground between each other. Avoiding her isn't doing either of you any favors."

"She avoids me as much as I avoid her," Weiss pointed out.

"I know, and I'll be talking about that with her later. But right now, I'm talking to you."

Again, Weiss crossed her arms. "So, what do you suggest? That we just talk to each other a bit?"

"Yes," Yang said bluntly, taking her friend by surprise. "What, did you honestly expect something different? If you're not even talking, then obviously that's a good place to start."

"...I suppose," Weiss relented. "And am I correct in assuming that you want Blake and I to do the same as well?"

"Ideally."

Weiss snorted at that. "Wishful thinking."

"Maybe not," Yang said. At Weiss' surprised look, she couldn't help but wince. "...I may have a plan, but you won't like it."

Weiss sighed. "Alright, tell me."

Yang did. Weiss, predictably, didn't like it.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Weiss-"

"No, Yang! I told you that in confidence! I said that it's not going to leave the room!"

"And it won't! You won't have to tell anyone else if you don't want to! But if you don't tell Blake, she's just going to keep thinking you're some ignorant, racist asshole who blindly hates Faunus for no reason!"

"What, and you think letting her know my biggest weakness is going to help?!"

"It's not a weakness!" Yang protested. "Don't talk about yourself like that!"

"It _is _a weakness – it's my biggest fear, Yang! How does it make me anything but weak?!"

"That's stupid! What, did your dad tell you that?!"

Weiss paused, looking at Yang with wide eyes. Yang blinked, unsure of what to think.

And then her confusion gave way to sheer rage when realization finally struck.

Suddenly, she was at the door, eyes red and hair aflame, being held back by Weiss.

"I'm gonna kill him," she said through gritted teeth.

"Yang, wait!"

"No. I'm gonna go to Atlas and rip his spine out."

"Please-"

"The other shit was already too much, but saying that to his traumatized daughter? Yeah, he dies."

"Stop!" Weiss shouted, finally getting Yang to pause. Seeing her friend had finally decided to listen, Weiss inhaled deeply. "...I appreciate your concern, but please calm down."

Yang's mouth tightened. "...Fine." Reluctantly, she deactivated her semblance before walking back over to her bed, taking a seat with a huff. "But if I ever see him, he's a dead man."

"Please don't," Weiss said, taking a seat next to her. "...Anyway, I don't want to tell Blake about it."

"I know you don't. I won't force you to. But I think if you did, she'd understand, and she'd be a lot more sympathetic to you. It won't fix everything, but it would be a start to at least getting the two of you to agree to disagree." Yang sighed heavily. "Look, do you trust me?"

"Yes," Weiss said without hesitation.

"Do you really think I'd be asking you to do this if I thought there was another way?"

"...No," the heiress said reluctantly. She thought for a moment, then swallowed nervously. "...Before I go through with it, can you at least see if it would make a difference?"

"How?"

"I don't know… maybe just ask her if, hypothetically, I might have a reason for how I've been treating Red..."

"Okay, yeah, I'll do that," Yang said with a nod.

Weiss hesitated. "...And, when I tell her, can you be there?"

Yang smiled softly before pulling the heiress close with a one-armed hug. "Absolutely, Weiss. And if she tries to use it against you or threatens to tell anybody else, I'll make her regret coming to Beacon, count on it."

Weiss closed her eyes, sighing in relief. "...Thank you."

Yang simply smiled at her once more, trying her best not to betray the sense of apprehension and worry that was growing inside of her at what she had just asked her friend to do.

* * *

"Can we talk?"

Blake paused before sighing. She had been in the room for all of about two seconds before Yang had called out to her. Truthfully, she didn't particularly care about what Yang had to tell her, both because she was a human and because of how close she was to Weiss.

"Not right now. I have a study session with Red."

She moved towards the door, only for Yang to get up and stand in front of it.

"Please? It will only take a second."

Blake pursed her eyebrows, sighing irritably. She wasn't close with Yang at all, but having lived with the blonde for several weeks now, even she knew that once the brawler set her mind to something, it was hard to dissuade her. And given that her only options were to either try and fight her way through her teammate or jump out the window, she didn't have much of a choice.

"Fine, but make it quick."

Yang relaxed. "Okay, I'll cut right to the chase. If Weiss had a reason for acting the way she does around Red, would you at least be able to tolerate her?"

The ravenette frowned sharply. "Seriously, that's your question? You should know the answer by now. Now, if you don't mind?"

"I mean it, Blake," Yang insisted. "If Weiss had a reason – a really good reason – would it be enough?"

"Yang-"

"Answer the question, please."

Again, Blake sighed irritably. "Okay, fine. I guess, if Weiss had a really good reason for acting the way she does, I would be a bit more inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. It wouldn't make me tolerate her any more than I do now, but I wouldn't be actively avoiding her." Glaring at her partner, she added, "Is that what you wanted?"

"To start."

"Yang-"

"Wait, please," the blonde pleaded. "Blake, I just want this team to be a group of four rather than two groups of two. I know you and Weiss don't like each other, and I'm not asking you to be friends. All I want is for the two of you to stop actively hating on each other so we can start working as a team."

"Then you should talk to Weiss about how she treats Red," Blake snapped.

"I already have, why do you think I'm here? I've learned some more about her that I think explains why she's acting the way she does around Red, and I've also managed to convince her to try and work past it. The only obstacles left are you and Red herself, and I'm hoping to fix both of those by talking to you now."

Blake paused, considering her partner's words. It almost seemed too good to be true – Weiss was hardly the type to admit that she had messed up and was willing to try and better herself. The whole scenario seemed ridiculous; Weiss had called Red a racial slur to her face, for crying out loud! How was she going to come back from that?!

"I don't believe you," Blake said cautiously.

"Humor me," Yang asked. "Blake, I'm begging you. I think it would be good for everybody, Red included, if we tried to work past this rather than stay split. Just give me a few minutes of your time and I can prove it to you."

"And if you can't?"

"Trust me, I can," Yang insisted. "What do you say? Are you willing to try, if not for the rest of the team, then for Red?"

Blake sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Alright, fine. What's Weiss' reason?"

Yang rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, that's not really something for me to explain, so I'll just let her tell you herself." Turning towards the bathroom, she added, "You're good to come out now."

The bathroom door swung open, then Weiss stepped out into the room. She looked annoyed at being forced to wait inside, to the point where it was obvious she wanted to complain about it, but instead she held her tongue. She stopped a few feet away from Blake, standing there awkwardly and without making eye contact.

Blake folded her arms across her chest. "Well? I'm waiting."

"I know," Weiss said. Blake blinked, surprised; normally, a snappy comment like that would have earned an equally snappy response from the heiress. Weiss sighed deeply. "It's just… this isn't an easy thing to talk about, especially not twice in one day."

"Then why are we doing it today? Like I told Yang, I have a study session with Red to get to. We can do this some other time."

Weiss shook her head. "No. No, this has gone on long enough. I'd rather do it now." She took a deep breath, then mumbled something to herself; Blake's ears were hidden beneath her bow, but she was still able to tell that what Weiss had said sounded suspiciously like 'Just like ripping off a bandage, Weiss; better to just get it over with...'

For the first time, Weiss made eye contact, which left Blake stunned. Her normally proud-looking, fearless expression was replaced by one that was meek and vulnerable. Ever since Blake had started living with her, Weiss had only ever looked proud and strong, and now she looked almost like she was terrified of something.

"...I have my own reasons for hating Faunus," she began. "Separate from why the rest of my family does, I mean. My father hates them because he's a racist and because the White Fang has targeted us for years. I hate them because the White Fang have personally tried to kill me several times, and the last time, they nearly succeeded."

_That _got Blake's attention. Ever since she had run away to be a part of the White Fang, she had only ever heard about how untouchable the Schnees were, how they were all the most valuable targets the White Fang could have asked for, if only they were ever vulnerable enough to strike at. According to some of the higher-up members she had interacted with, the Schnees were almost impossible to attack, being as well-guarded and smart as they were.

Was Weiss making something up? If she was telling the truth, then she was talking about White Fang operations that Blake had never even heard of, and if that was the case… was she being purposely kept out of the loop? Adam was pretty high-up in the organization and had seen to it that she was kept informed, at least until she ran away from him, so he would have known if there were plans to attack Weiss. The fact that he didn't, or that he did but hadn't told her, was peculiar…

In any case, Blake leaned in, suddenly much more willing to listen to Weiss' story.

Weiss sighed before continuing. "Perhaps it's wrong of me to lump every Faunus in with the White Fang, but I can't afford not to. The fact is, they could all potentially be in the White Fang, which means I have to be careful. And even if they weren't… admittedly, I still wouldn't like them, though how much of that is genuine and how much of that is a result of my upbringing, I'm not sure."

"Weiss," Yang said softly, earning a nod.

"I know; I'm rambling," Weiss replied. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to talk about..." She swallowed nervously. "Anyway, the reason I dislike Red so much isn't because she's made me look bad – that's part of it, but it's not even close to being the real reason. No, the real reason is that she looks incredibly similar to someone who tried to kill me two years ago."

"Two years ago…?" Blake muttered. She certainly wasn't aware of any operations involving Weiss Schnee that had taken place two years ago. What was going on?

Weiss nodded. "Yes. A White Fang assassin attacked the car I was riding in – I knew they were White Fang because they were a Faunus, and they were wearing a Grimm mask. She murdered my four bodyguards, and almost murdered me… but at the last second, she let me go." To Blake's astonishment, the heiress actually started to tremble nervously. "...I have no idea why. She had me dead to rights; I was unarmed, alone, and outmatched. There was nothing I could do, and she had clearly come to kill me. I was lucky, I guess… but it doesn't feel like it."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, then brushed at the corners of her eyes. "I still have nightmares about it all the time. And since I've started living with Red, they've only gotten more intense – like her, the person who tried to kill me was a wolf Faunus. I assume that's the reason why, but I just don't know."

Honestly, Blake wasn't sure what to make of any of that. For all the time she had been in the White Fang, she had never once heard of Sienna employing assassins. Either Sienna was really good at hiding the fact that she had a select group of skilled individuals on-call, or they didn't exist. Her first thought was that Weiss was obviously lying… but given how she was reacting as she was recalling the story, Blake didn't think she was. It was all very confusing. Finally, the ravenette decided that the truth was likely somewhere between the two extremes: Weiss was most likely attacked by some lone-wolf extremist, and mistakenly drew her own conclusions as to what that meant.

That was the only thing that made sense to Blake, and that was the way she was going to interpret what Weiss was telling her.

"So, the reason why you treat Red the way you do is because she reminds you of the person who tried to kill you?" Blake questioned.

Weiss nodded. "Partly… _mostly," _she amended. "I still have my own reservations about Faunus, and I still think we would have gotten off on the wrong foot because of them, but… maybe if it wasn't for that, things wouldn't have been so bad between us."

"So, you still wouldn't like her because of her heritage."

"...She wouldn't be my favorite person in the world, but I think I would have learned to tolerate her," Weiss admitted. "I certainly wouldn't be pushing her away like I have been, nor would I have called her a slur to her face."

Blake paused, her mouth straightening. Well, things had certainly just gotten more complicated for her team. While Weiss did have a reason for how she was acting – and a very good one if it were true, and given how the normally-unshakable heiress was acting like a terrified child, Blake had no reason to doubt its authenticity – she herself was still admitting that she was a racist.

...But then again, how much of that was genuine and how much was due to ignorance? Weiss, from the sound of things, had no contact with Faunus beyond what her father had told her about them and the people the White Fang had sent to try and kill her. As much as it pained Blake to admit it, Weiss' racism was suddenly a bit more understandable, given the circumstances. It was still inexcusable, but Blake could at least see why she thought the way she did.

In that case, Blake's path was clear.

The ravenette sighed. "...Okay, let's say I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. What then?"

Weiss looked at her with surprise, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "...I mean, I guess we carry on, only without being so tense around each other? Maybe start practicing as partners and as a team, so we don't fall behind in Goodwitch's class."

"We would tolerate each other, then."

The heiress nodded. "Yes. I would do my best to keep it professional."

"...I guess that's agreeable. I mean, I don't think you and I or you and Red are ever going to be friends," Blake said, which earned a nod from Weiss. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yang frown disappointedly. "But if we're going to do this, I have one condition."

"Name it," Weiss replied. Blake was caught off-guard; maybe she was being genuine, after all.

"I want you to apologize to Red for calling her an animal earlier."

"How about all three of you apologize to each other?" Yang interjected. "I think a round of apologies is owed to pretty much everybody except for me – Weiss owes Red one for obvious reasons, you and Weiss owe one to each other for obvious reasons, and Red owes Weiss one for ignoring her and accidentally embarrassing her over and over."

Reluctantly, Blake nodded. She didn't like dragging Red into this, especially not when she was the most innocent person here, but if that was what it took for everyone to stop hating each other, then it would have to do.

"Alright," Blake said. She turned to Weiss. "Weiss, I'm sorry for how I've been treating you."

"And I'm sorry for the way I've treated you," Weiss instantly replied. She stuck out a hand. "Teammates?"

Blake stared at it for a few seconds before reluctantly accepting. "Teammates."

They shook for a moment before separating, Weiss looking a lot more relaxed. "You said that you had a study session with Red, right? Mind if I go along? I'd like to apologize right away."

It felt wrong to agree after so much time spent trying to keep Red and Weiss separate, but if this was the new paradigm, then so be it. "Sure. Follow me."

"I'll go with you," Yang said, following them as they filed out the door, Blake carrying the set of books she had returned to the dorm to grab.

"I'm not going to miss my team finally becoming a team."

* * *

Red looked over at the wall-mounted clock, unsure about what to think. Blake was supposed to have been here a few minutes ago, and in the past, she had always been quite punctual. Sighing, the wolf began to tap her foot as her mind wandered.

Predictably, she assumed the worst. What if Blake had gotten into some kind of trouble? What if Colt and his team had decided to fulfill their promise and drag her team into their little dispute? The thought made her scowl, both because of what it meant for her team and because of how likely it was. The past couple of days had seen a resurgence in her bullying, though it had consisted only of things such as notes being slipped into her locker – annoying because she had to spend time getting rid of them, but worrying because of the risk that her team could be targeted as well.

She certainly hoped that wasn't the case, because if it was, she might be the one getting kicked out of Beacon instead of whoever had targeted her team.

Casting another glance over at the clock, Red made up her mind: she was going to go search for Blake. Rising from her seat, the Faunus grabbed her study materials and walked over to the library's double doors. She opened them, only to nearly run face-first into the very person she was searching for.

"Oh! Sorry I'm late, Red," Blake said. Eyeing her friend, she said, "Going somewhere?"

"Looking for you," Red replied.

Blake winced. "Yeah, sorry. I was going to send you a message, but I got caught up with something."

She stepped to the side, and Red's eyes widened when she saw Weiss and Yang standing there. Yang flashed her a smile, while Weiss stood there awkwardly.

Her first instinct was to run… but looking at Blake, she could see that her friend was clearly planning something involving the two of them. Reluctantly, Red swallowed her fear and stayed rooted to the spot.

"Mind if we sit down?" Weiss asked.

Red shook her head, gesturing to the table she had just left. All four of them, sat down, and Weiss took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I'm sorry."

Red blinked. "...About what?"

"Everything," Weiss replied. "About how I've been ignoring you, how I've been treating you, how I called you an animal… I apologize for all of it."

Red was tempted to ask why, but thought better of it. Instead, she just nodded. "...Okay."

Everyone looked at her expectantly, which took her off-guard. Did they expect something of her? Was she supposed to apologize as well? It couldn't hurt…

"...I'm sorry," she replied. "For everything."

They all seemed to relax at that, which made her do the same. She wasn't sure what she was apologizing for, but if it put them all at ease and made Weiss and Yang less likely to figure out the truth, then it was good.

Weiss turned back to her, taking another breath. "...I was hoping that we could start treating each other better. I don't think we'll ever be friends, but I don't think it's too much to ask for us to at least be teammates and practice for Combat Class together as partners. Would that be okay?"

Again, her first instinct was to refuse. She opened her mouth to do exactly that, but a look over at Blake made her reconsider – her friend looked like she was expecting Red to agree, for reason that were incomprehensible to the wolf Faunus, since she had always thought that Blake didn't like Weiss. Still, if she brought it up, Blake would most likely say that this was something she needed to do if she was going to be at Beacon for the next four years, same as everything else that she didn't want to do but still had to because Blake, Coco, or Ozpin told her she had to.

Reluctantly, Red looked back towards Weiss and nodded.

At that, Weiss and Yang visibly relaxed even further. "Great," Weiss said. "We can work out practice times later – both as partners and as a team. Until then, I'll see you both later."

And with that, the two of them left, leaving her alone with her friend. Blake was saying something to her, but Red wasn't paying attention.

She was too busy worrying about what she had just agreed to, and if it was going to cost her her cover identity or not.

* * *

Once more, she smelled it – the stench of fresh blood, mixed with spent Dust. It permeated the air, choking her. Her eyes flew open as she hastily sat up, breathing heavily.

It was this dream again – she recognized it the instant her eyes had opened. The surroundings were the same as they always were – battle-scarred, scored with bullet holes and scorch marks. Most of the room was unrecognizable, having been demolished over the course of the fight. It hadn't lasted long – a minute at most, perhaps – but in close quarters like this, a minute was a long time.

The wolf pushed herself to her feet, hissing in pain as she did so. Another familiar feeling – that of her entire body screaming at her, her various wounds coming together to make every square inch of her hurt in some way. Blood leaked from her cuts onto the ground, forming a thin trail that followed her as she limped over to the center of the room, dragging her paralyzed leg behind her as she went.

They were there, just like always – the husband and wife. Both military officials – the man was a Specialist, and the wife had been an officer – it hadn't been clean for either of them. Behind her bone-white ballistic mask, the wolf closed her eyes, silently apologizing for what she had done.

And, like all the other times, the worst part had yet to come.

There was a small noise behind her – a choked sob, one that she could remember without even thinking about it, so etched into her mind it was. Heart pounding, she slowly turned around, knowing what to expect.

Even knowing what she would find, nothing could have prepared her for when she once again saw the little girl, dressed in her sleeping clothes and holding a stuffed bear tightly to her chest as she stared at the unmoving forms of her parents.

She had to know what she was looking at, despite how young she was. Red certainly had when Sienna had told her about her mother. Slowly, the girl tore her gaze away from her fallen parents, instead looking up at their killer. She sniffled softly, too scared to say anything or try to run or hide. The wolf stared at her, and for just a moment, it was like looking into a mirror.

It was too much. Hurriedly, Red made for the other side of the room, uncaring of how injured she was. She threw the front door open and stepped out into the howling blizzard that was raging outside, hoping that the noise would spare her from what was about to happen.

Of course, she knew it wouldn't – even through the rush of the frozen wind in her ears, she could still make out the girl's scream of anguish as the reality of what had happened to her family finally sank in. The wolf bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she limped through the blizzard, tears streaming down her face as she made for the extraction point Sienna had planned for her.

Mercifully, that was where it ended. She woke up in a cold sweat just as the blizzard intensified, her mind apparently deciding that she had seen enough and deciding to have mercy on her. She blinked, staring up at the ceiling for a few seconds before casting a glance over at the nearby clock. It was just after two in the morning. Four hours of sleep wasn't much, but it was all she was going to get tonight.

For the rest of the night, Red laid awake, silently staring up at nothing and letting the memories come flooding back. She had spent so much time following Blake that it had almost distracted her from what she was here for in the first place, but that didn't matter. She would keep playing along with Blake, but nothing was going to dissuade her from her path.

She still had a job to do, and she was going to see it through to the end no matter what.

* * *

**And there it is. They're all… not quite friends, but not quite enemies either. I guess the best word is they're 'professional' to each other – everyone is basically _tolerating _everyone else. It's not perfect, but it's something. At least they're not actively hostile to each other anymore.**

**I kind of feel like I'm moving things along pretty fast, but at the same time I can only draw things out for so long. I mean, it's been, what, four chapters and like 60,000 words since they got to Beacon, and they've only now started coming together as a team? Admittedly, I wanted to do more, but I was really drawing a blank on how I could possibly keep them all separated and still have it make sense/not feel forced. Originally, there was other stuff in the way, but I found that it really didn't contribute much and kind of just dragged on, so I trimmed it down.**

**Anyway, let me know if you think this was moving too fast. It's probably too late to go back and change a whole lot for this fic, but any feedback would definitely be helpful for any future projects I might do, especially if they feature a divided team like this. Getting these interactions right is something I've been struggling with for months now, so if I'm still not doing it right or am moving too fast or something, I'd appreciate you all telling me that so I can get it right next time. That's why I'm here, after all – to make mistakes, have people call me out on them, and ultimately come out of this a better writer than when I started. Oh, and to have fun of course, but I might as well also get something constructive out of it too, you know?**

**That tangent aside, it's nice to finally start seeing some progress. It's not much, but it's a start.  
**

**Also, before I go: I'd just like to take a moment and thank all of you who have left a review. I know I've already done this for pretty much all of you via PM, but I'd like to just come right out and say it in the chapter itself, because I don't know if I've done an adequate job of communicating just how much I value everyone's input. I know I said that this story won't live or die based on review count, and I did mean that when I said it, but at the same time, seeing that you all enjoy my work, or even that you decided to take the time out of your day to point out things you think I did wrong or could have done better, puts a huge smile on my face. **

**So, here's to all of you who have left a review, and especially for those of you who have left more than one, and _especially _especially for those of you who have made it a point to review pretty much every chapter so far. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.**

**Next update: Saturday, April 25.**


	12. Chapter 12

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 12

* * *

It had been a few weeks since she had been approached by Weiss, and as much as it felt wrong to say, Red had finally been able to settle into a sort of routine around both her and Yang. At first, when Blake had told her that she was going to have to stop avoiding Weiss, she had been scared of what would happen, but luckily her disguise seemed to have held; Weiss was none the wiser.

Of course, that wasn't to say things were easy. Even being around Weiss was difficult due to the memories and lingering feelings of guilt she brought along with her, and try as she might, Red found them incredibly difficult to overcome. Blake had seemed to realize that she was still uncomfortable around Weiss and had even, if very reluctantly, wondered if maybe getting more familiar with the heiress would help with that, but Red had been quick to deny that anything was wrong, and that it was better to keep things as professional as possible.

On top of that, her sleep schedule, which had been steadily improving since her arrival at Beacon aside from some hiccups, had started reverting back to how it had used to be. These days, it was unusual if she got more than four or five hours of sleep a night. The others definitely noticed it, owing to her exhaustion and the constant dark rings under her eyes, but she simply dismissed their concerns by saying that she sometimes had insomnia, and that it was nothing to worry about.  
It wasn't a complete lie, but telling it certainly didn't make her feel any better.

In any case, her team had accepted it without much argument.

And speaking of her team, currently the four of them were in one of Beacon's training arenas. It was Saturday, the day after a series of big tests, and they all needed to blow off some steam. Yang had floated the idea of sparring a bit to get more used to how they all fought, and in the absence of anything better to do, they had split into their partnerships and commandeered two rings for themselves.

Red ducked to the side as Weiss came rocketing towards her, point-first. The Faunus reached out to grab Weiss' arm, then threw her to the ground with a pivot, tossing her rapier off to the side in the same motion. From her spot on the ground, Weiss glared at her before sighing resignedly.

"I did it again, didn't I?"

Red said nothing, simply nodding in response. Looking at Weiss lying on the ground, she couldn't help but be reminded of that day in Atlas. Once again, the heiress was so vulnerable, so defenseless… a few years ago and Red would have completed her counter by snapping Weiss' neck. The thought made her want to vomit.

Quickly, Red helped her partner up to her feet, then dashed over and retrieved her weapon, handing it to her hilt-first. Weiss accepted it with a nod.

"That attack is one of my favorites, but I guess I won't be catching you off-guard with it anytime soon. Perhaps a more defensive strategy… or maybe something even more offense-based? Hmm… maybe that would be worth a try..."

The Faunus nodded, numb. She was only somewhat paying attention; the majority of her mind was focused on keeping the bad memories and intrusive thoughts at bay. Once again, Red thanked the fact that she had left her weapons in her locker. The first time she had done so, Weiss had been somewhat offended, though Red was able to cover it up by saying that she wanted to practice her unarmed skills. Now, the heiress simply accepted it without comment, though Red knew it was only a temporary measure at best. Eventually, she was going to have to fight Weiss with her weapons, lest her partner once more think she was purposely trying to offend and embarrass her.

And when that happened, she was going to have to be careful not to get lost in her memories, like she had in the Dust shop.

"Let's set up again," Weiss insisted. "I'd like to try something a bit more out-there, if you don't mind."

Red nodded. The two of them split up, taking their positions on opposite sides of the arena. Weiss stared her down, and Red blinked before swallowing nervously, feeling her heart hammer against her ribcage the entire time.

Once again, Weiss fired herself towards Red with a glyph, though this time she stopped herself short with another, sending herself flying high. A dome of glyphs suddenly surrounded the Faunus, who wasted no time in charging into the nearest one with her semblance, trying to break it. To her surprise, it refused to yield; apparently, Weiss had decided to reinforce it with a combination of Ice and Gravity Dust. It was as expensive as it was effective, even if it was overkill for a single person.

Red watched as the heiress once more sent herself flying down towards the dome of glyphs. Weiss bounced between them for a few seconds, clearly trying to disorient Red, before finally making her attack. Faster than she could blink, Red felt Weiss' rapier graze across her chest, then across her back, then across her face… the flurry of strikes came too quickly for her to do anything about, at least for as long as all the glyphs were reinforced with Dust. She was trapped, and until Weiss ran out of energy or lost her focus, there was nothing Red could do.

A familiar feeling of panic began to well up inside the Faunus' mind. The scar on her stomach began to burn, a reminder of the last time she had been immobilized and at the mercy of a blade. Red felt her breath begin to come out ragged, and suddenly the dull sting from Weiss' rapier was drowning underneath the white-hot burn of heated steel on her bare skin. The air was filled with the smell of burning flesh, and the sound of sizzling meat filled her ears. In a panic, Red frantically looked around for a way out, though she found none.

Another hit glanced across her face, and her eyes narrowed in understanding. _Face, chest, back, stomach, legs.. _it was a pattern. Again, her opponent was being too predictable… but who were they? Was it Almost? It couldn't be; he was _never _predictable. Someone else, then? But who? Was she on a mission? Hadn't she left the White Fang?

Another strike glanced off her back, but this time she was ready. Whirling around, the ex-assassin grabbed her opponent's leg as they tried to get away. She – _she? – _gave a cry of surprise as Red pivoted, throwing her onto the ground from her leg. Then, before she could do anything, Red was upon her, trapping her in a figure-four body lock, then she began to strike, punching her opponent over and over in the back of the head.

Red didn't know how many times she struck, only that each one was bringing her opponent's aura lower and lower, signified by the white light growing dimmer with every strike. After a few seconds, it was dim enough that she was sure that one more strike would break it completely. She cocked her fist back, aiming for the base of her opponent's skull…

Only for someone else to wrap their hand around Red's fist, pull it to the side, then forcibly pull her off whoever she was fighting.

"I think that's enough," the newcomer said.

Red turned to them in surprise, and found lilac eyes staring back. After a moment of confusion, she realized who they belonged to, and her heart skipped a beat.

Then everything else came rushing back.

Frantically, Red turned towards Weiss, who was rising to her feet on shaky legs, clutching her head with one hand. Instantly, Red dashed over to her, patting her down and searching for any injuries, the whole time quietly asking if she was alright.

"I'm fine," Weiss said. She winced, then let out a low groan. "...Was all that really necessary? You hit like a truck."

Red's eyes widened and she looked down at the floor in shame. Behind her, Yang chuckled.

"Weiss, I don't think you get to complain about that considering that trick you pulled on her," the blonde pointed out.

At that, Weiss deflated. "...I suppose it _was _somewhat dirty," she admitted. "Still, I just wanted to see if I had something that would actually work against her. I didn't think it would be that effective."

"It probably wouldn't be if she'd used her weapons." Turning to Red, Yang added, "When are you going to start doing that, by the way?"

Surprised, the wolf swallowed before replying. "...When I'm more comfortable with my unarmed training."

Yang shrugged. "You seemed pretty comfortable with it to me, but then again, Weiss isn't exactly an unarmed expert." She grinned widely. "I, on the other hand..."

Red knew exactly what Yang was getting at. Ever since they had started training as partners, Yang had expressed a desire for the two of them to pit their unarmed skills against each other. Naturally, Red wanted nothing less than to spend time alone with Yang; if being around Weiss was painful, then being around Yang was _agon__izing__. _

Thankfully, Blake came to her rescue.

"I think it would be best to keep sparring as partners for a while."

Yang deflated. "...I mean, sure," she replied after a second's pause. Then, she softly added, "...At least now I know that you're not mad about being thrown into a wall earlier."

"Honestly, I've had worse… though, if you could keep your semblance under control next time, it would be nice."

"Hey, I'm fueled by damage and anger, and it's tough to stay calm when you dodge everything with your semblance and keep peppering me with bullets."

Red tuned out the rest of the conversation – it didn't apply to her, and she had other things to worry about. What was going on with her? In all her time at Beacon, she hadn't ever lost control the way she had today. What had changed? Was it just spending time around Weiss? ...No, that didn't make sense; if anything, that should have made her more cautious, not more impulsive.

Was it just being in combat? She had been skirting towards the edge simply by being around Weiss, but she hadn't lost control until Weiss had pulled out that attack of hers… and, now that she thought about it, she could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins, the same way it used to whenever she was on a mission. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Red once more looked down at the floor.

She was going to have to be careful, at least until she isolated and dealt with whatever was causing all this.

Yang suddenly laughed, which caused her to jolt upright in surprise. Looking towards the blonde, Red found her doubled over, clutching her stomach. For some reason, Weiss was _seething. _

"Must you be so vulgar?!" the heiress hissed.

"If you're going to react like that, then yes!" Yang said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Honestly, all I said was-"

"Don't repeat it, you oaf!"

"-See you in the showers!"

Weiss groaned, rubbing at her temples. "I swear, you are the most immature person I know, and I know Nora!"

"Aw, you know you love me."

"Sometimes I wonder..."

Again, Yang laughed, though this time she clapped Weiss on the back as she did so. The heiress gave a small yelp and jumped, glaring at her friend before crossing her arms.

"Just for that, I'm taking the first shower – _alone, _mind you!" she said, cutting Yang off before she could interject. The blonde pouted at her joke being ruined.

Red blinked as she watched the scene unfold. Clearly, she was missing some context here, but it didn't matter to her; she probably would have been just as lost even with it. Whether she understood or not didn't matter anyway; what mattered was that Yang and Weiss seemed to be having a great time around each other. Honestly, she was happy for them; after losing her sister, Yang deserved to have someone else to be around, and after everything she had been through, Weiss deserved a good friend.

Blake noticed her staring and walked over, gently nudging her with her shoulder.

"C'mon," the ravenette said, "we can get something to eat while those two head off to the dorm."

Yang turned towards them, balking. "What, you're not coming back with us?"

Blake shook her head. "I think Red could use some time to recover. Honestly, so could I."

Again, Yang seemed to deflate. "...Alright, then. See you later."

Blake nodded in understanding, then took Red's hand and gently led her out of the training room and towards the cafeteria. Red followed along, grateful to have some time away from her bad memories.

For some reason, Yang looked disappointed to see them both go, though she had no idea why that was.

* * *

Yang looked over at the bathroom door, waiting for the sound of running water to greet her ears. Once it did, she turned back towards her scroll, biting her lip.

Her team had made great strides, that much was true. However, there was still much to be done. She thought she would be satisfied just having them tolerate each other, but it wasn't enough; something was missing. She knew what it was, and while she had an idea of how to fix it, actually putting it into practice was going to be rough.

Finally, she decided to just go for it. She opened her scroll, then typed out a message to Blake.

_Y: I know you and Weiss are only putting up with each other, but do you think there's a possibility that her and Red could become friends?_

Blake's reply was instant.

_B: No. Why are you asking?  
_

Yang's brow furrowed. _Y: Because I think there might be a chance of it happening._

_B: You're crazy._

_Y: C'mon, it's gotta be worth a try. You can't deny that it would be good for both of them._

A solid minute passed before she got another response, this time in the form of her scroll ringing. She answered it, bringing it up to her ear.

"_Have you lost your mind?!" _Blake hissed, causing Yang to wince and pull the scroll away from her ear for a second.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help them both out. Don't tell me that you disagree with that."

_"Normally, I wouldn't, but this is a _bad _idea."  
_

"You said the same thing about the Nevermore plan, and that turned out okay."

_"That was different! Yang, Red is still very uncomfortable around Weiss, and Weiss is clearly just tolerating her. Do you really want to push boundaries like this?"  
_

The brawler shrugged. "Well, maybe if we got them to spend a bit more time together, they'd stop acting like that. It couldn't hurt to try."

_"That's what they're doing!"  
_

"Yeah, in things like combat practice and study sessions. I meant fun stuff – things you do with friends."

On the other end of the line, Blake sighed irritably. _"...Okay, let's pretend like I'm actually willing to go along with this. How would you even go about doing it?"_

Yang hesitated. "...Funny you should mention that."

She explained her plan to Blake. The whole time, the ravenette was silent. Yang finished speaking, and after a few seconds of input, Blake exhaled.

"_...Okay, I'll admit that it's not a completely terrible idea," _she admitted. _"If nothing else, it might get Red some other friends beyond just me and Coco's team."  
_

Yang felt her heart skip a beat. "So you'll do it?"

_"...Give me a bit to set everything up with Coco."  
_

The blonde pumped her fist in victory. "Yes! I'll start my part right-" She heard the shower suddenly cut off, and hesitated. "...When I'm able to. Anyway, I'll talk to you later, gotta go!"

"_Wait, when did you-" _

Blake never got a chance to finish as Yang quickly ended the call, then turned towards the bathroom door. She was just in time to see it open and Weiss walk out, trailed by a cloud of steam and dressed in her everyday clothes, her hair wrapped up in a towel.

Taking a seat on her bed and reaching for her hairbrush, she motioned towards the bathroom. "All yours, Yang."

"Thanks." A smirk crossed her face. "You didn't use up all the hot water, did you?"

Weiss sighed tiredly. "Must you say that every time?"

"Only for as long as it bothers you."

"You have a very strange idea of how to treat your friends. If it weren't for the fact that you seem to do it with everybody, I might have actually taken offense."

"Welcome to being buds with a Xiao Long. You'll know we're your friends if we give you crap."

Weiss groaned, then waved her off. "Just go take a shower already, I can smell you from here."

Yang cackled, but did as she was told, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Only once she was inside and out of Weiss' view did she allow her grin to fade. Pulling her scroll from her pocket, she quickly typed up a message before sending it to Jaune.

Hopefully, what she had in mind worked.

* * *

Red looked down at her scroll as she walked. Blake had requested that she join her and the rest of the team for lunch, and while she normally would have looked for a reason to avoid doing so, Blake had seemed to really want her to show up. Logic dictated that she stay away despite that, but her care for her friend made her think twice.

Pushing her way through the double doors, Red spotted Blake and Yang already set up at a table. The blonde waved at her, and she nodded in response before taking her position in line. Once she had her food, she walked over to the table and settled in next to Blake.

"Glad you could make it," Yang said, earning a nod in response. "Weiss should be here right about..." As if on cue, the heiress took a seat next to her, causing her to smirk. "...Now."

Weiss cast a glance over at Yang's tray before shuddering. "Are you really going to eat that?"

"It's just chicken and rice, Weiss."

"That's the problem! You're not even using condiments, or anything! It's nothing but protein and carbs! And why is there so much of it?!"

"Welcome to the world of eating like a weightlifter," Yang said, taking a big bite out of her meal. With her mouth full, she added, "You get used to it after a few years."

"Years…?" Weiss said, horrified. Again, she shuddered, then turned to her salad. "Anyway, what's the occasion for all this? Besides getting us to act more like a team, I mean."

Yang shrugged. "What makes you think there's a special reason for this?" she asked through a mouthful of chicken.

The heiress winced at her friend's lack of table manners, but otherwise didn't react. "Well, it sort of came out of nowhere. In the past, you've eased us into doing things as a team. This time, you just called us all together and had us meet here."

"Well, maybe I figured you could all handle it."

"...Perhaps," Weiss relented. "Though I still feel like you're planning something."

"You're not wrong," answered somebody who was very much not Yang.

Weiss turned around to see who had answered her statement, though she only grew more confused upon seeing who it was.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

The brunette chuckled, pushing her sunglasses up a bit. "Coco Adel," she said with a small wave. Motioning to her team, she added, "Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi. We're Team CFVY. Nice to meet you."

Weiss' eyes focused on Velvet's ears. For a moment, Red was afraid she was going to say something rude towards her friends, though thankfully the heiress was quick to snap out of it, instead nodding towards Coco.

"A pleasure to meet you all. I am Weiss Schnee. This is Yang Xiao Long, Red Canis, and Blake Solandra. Might I ask what you're doing here?"

"We're friends with Blake and Red," Velvet replied. "Blake asked us to meet her here."

"Oh. Well, I suppose you can join us. We intended for this to be a team event, but I won't turn away friends of my teammates."

"Thanks," Coco said. With that, her team settled in, her and Velvet sitting next to Red and Yatsuhashi and Fox sitting next to Blake. Once they were seated, she turned to Red. "How's it going, Red?"

"Fine," Red responded, her voice small.

"Woman of few words, like always."

"It's more efficient," Fox added.

"Haven't we had this discussion before?" Yatsuhashi asked.

Yang smirked. "No, please go on. I think this is gonna be good."

"Maybe some other time," Coco said. She turned towards Weiss. "Anyway, I've got a bone to pick with you, Schnee."

Weiss tensed, as did everyone else at the table. "...Yes?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah. Why the eff haven't you come to visit Adel Fashions yet? I told my mom to be prepared to roll out the red carpet and everything, yet you never got back to me."

Weiss blinked. As she did, everyone else at the table breathed a sigh of relief, though the biggest one belonged to Red. For a moment, she was afraid that Coco's callout was going to involve her somehow.

"I never heard anything from you about that," Weiss said carefully.

Coco balked. "What?! But I told Red-" She turned towards the Faunus next to her, shocked. "Red, you didn't give my message to Weiss! How could you?!"

Red shifted uncomfortably. "...Forgot," she said softly. "...Sorry..."

She actually wasn't lying; she really did forget. For once, her desire to avoid Weiss as much as possible did not apply.

Coco chuckled softly, then put an arm around Red's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. I still love ya." Turning back to Weiss, she added, "You should come visit us at some point. We're known for servicing clientele of all backgrounds, including someone with more sophisticated tastes." She scanned over Weiss' attire. "I see someone's a fan of Hans Silber's clothes."

Weiss smiled. "I'm surprised someone at this school recognized his handiwork."

"You kidding? My mom and him go way back. He's a bit higher-end than we're used to, but we keep a selection of some of his stuff on hand if you're interested."

"I might just take you up on that."

Velvet cleared her throat. "Well, now that Coco's done nearly setting off landmines in the way that only she can, why don't we change the subject to more pressing matters?"

Yang held up a hand. "Wait a minute, aren't you in our history class?"

"Second period with Oobleck? Yes, I am – I sit over in the corner, close to the front. That's the only real spot for me, since the other spots are taken and people have to sit with their teams."

"But you look like a second-year. Why are you in a first-year class?"

Velvet sighed heavily. "Bit of advice, kids – get your gen eds done when you're supposed to. Taking advantage of a glitch in the system to sign up for multiple electives in one year may seem fun, but you'll regret it when you're the only second-year in your class."

Yatsuhashi reached over and gently patted her back in solidarity. Velvet just sighed once more, this time overdramatically, before eating a spoonful of carrots.

Coco snickered. "Vel, you're doing it again."

Velvet paused mid-chew, then swallowed before shrugging. "...I don't care; I like my carrots."

"Doing what?" Yang asked.

Fox waved her off. "Velvet tends to unintentionally act like a walking rabbit stereotype sometimes. We like to point out when she's doing it because it bothers her."

"You three are all racist and should feel bad about yourselves," Velvet deadpanned. "Yatsu, are you going to eat your carrots?"

Yatsu shook his head, then pushed them over to her. Velvet wasted no time in digging in, a happy expression on her face.

"Guys, I think they think we're weird," Fox said, motioning towards Weiss and Yang, who seemed unsure about what to make of them.

Coco snorted. "We _are _weird, Fox."

"Oh, yeah. Well, at least we're the cool kind of weird."

"I bet I know a team that's weirder," Yang challenged.

Fox rose an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? And who might that be?"

"Look behind you."

Everyone on that side of the table turned around. Jaune stared back at them, then awkwardly waved.

"Uh, hi," he said. "We were told to meet Yang and Weiss here?"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose before turning to Yang. "Alright, what's your angle here?"

Yang smirked before taking another bite of chicken. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Weiss."

"Right, because I believe that everyone just happened to show up here at the same time for no reason. In no way were they invited for one of your ridiculous plots."

"I prefer the term harebrained schemes." She paused, then turned to Velvet. "Uh, no offense."

Velvet blinked in surprise, then groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Great, now Coco's going to take that and run with it..."

Next to her, Coco snorted. "That was a good one. Guess I owe you a pun, Xiao Long."

This time, it was Yang's turn to blink in surprise. Then, slowly, a smirk crept across her face. "Oh, we're gonna be great friends."

Again, Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jaune, I'm begging you, _please _sit down and change the subject of this conversation before it deteriorates into a pun-off."

Jaune nodded, and then his team hastily sat down next to her and Yang. As soon as they were all seated, he cleared his throat and turned to Yang.

"So, why are we here?"

"I'm glad you asked," Yang said. "You're here because of Weiss and Red."

At the sound of her name, Red's ears perked up, though they were quick to settle down again when she saw Weiss give a tired sigh.

"Yang, we've been over this. Red and I are willing to be professional about things."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm not entirely happy with that," the blonde retorted.

"And what, pray tell, would you rather have us do?"

"Be friends."

Weiss paused, unsure of what to say. "...The ship has sailed on that, I think."

"There something going on we should know about?" Coco asked. "We'd be happy to help."

"Believe me, you already are," Yang replied before turning back to Weiss. "Look, I'm not trying to force you two together or anything. If it works, then great. If it doesn't, we'll keep it professional. But I'd really rather have this work out. I think it would be good for both of you. Just hear me out first before you shoot me down completely."

Weiss sighed tiredly. "...Alright, fine. Explain, please."

Nodding, Yang turned to Jaune. "To make a long story short: our team has had some problems. We're currently trying to work through them, which is why we've enlisted you and Coco's team."

"Oh, I think I understand," Pyrrha interjected. "You're trying to get them to spend time together in the hopes that they start liking each other, and you want us around so it's easier for them to do so."

Yang nodded. "Exactly."

"...And you figured that even if it didn't work out, they'd both get another group of friends," Yatsuhashi added. "Clever."

"Hit the nail on the head. So, you all in?"

"Sure," Coco said, the rest of her team nodding in agreement. "How about we all head down to my mom's boutique this weekend? It's been a while since I've seen her, and I know she'd like to meet everybody. We'll make a day out of it."

"Sure, we're in," Jaune said. "In the meantime, we'll… uh..." He paused, then turned to his team. "Anyone got any suggestions for stuff to do?"

"Grimm hunting!" Nora shouted. "First one to twenty wins!"

"First-years aren't allowed into the Emerald Forest without supervision," Fox pointed out.

"Aww… but wait, you're all upperclassmen, right?"

"Not the way it works, unfortunately."

"Aww..."

As the two continued their conversation, Red glanced over towards Pyrrha. She noticed the redhead kept giving her aside glances and seemed like she really wanted to say something, but was deliberately holding herself back.

"Pyrrha," Red said, making her jump.

"Y-yes?" the champion asked.

"Did you want to ask something?"

"Um, kind of? But it's not really a group activity..."

"Sounds pretty X-rated," Coco interjected, earning a mortified squeak from the redhead.

"T-that's not what I meant!" Pyrrha protested as a round of chuckles came from everybody except Weiss, Blake, and Red. Calming down, she softly added, "...I really wanted to spar with you again, Red."

"What? That's totally a group activity," Coco pointed out. "We'll just be up in the stands watching."

"I think we were looking for something all of us could do at once," Velvet argued.

"...Okay, then maybe I just want to see Red put her asskicking skills to good use in person."

"Asskicking skills?" Yang asked.

Team CFVY exchanged a glance. "She didn't tell you?" Fox tentatively asked.

"Tell us what?"

"Red beat up a third-year that was harassing Velvet," Yatsuhashi explained. "That's how we all met – Velvet told us about her, we wanted to say thanks, and things snowballed from there."

Yang's eyes widened. "You beat up a third-year?" she asked excitedly.

"_You _beat up a third-year?" Weiss asked disbelievingly.

"Did you break his legs?!" Nora asked hopefully.

"No, but she _did _dislocate his shoulder," Coco said, causing Nora to squeal in delight.

Red fidgeted, uncomfortable to be receiving so much attention. "...It was no big deal," she said softly. "I was fresh out of combat class with all my weapons, and he was unarmed..."

Yang blinked in surprise, then turned to Velvet. "Okay, this I have to hear about."

The rabbit Faunus shrugged. "Him and his team were harassing me for being a Faunus. Red was unfortunate enough to stumble on us and get dragged into it. They tried to extort money from her, then tried attacking her when she wouldn't pay up, so she dumped about eight high-explosive rounds into the guy attacking her, then dislocated his shoulder."

"In about five seconds," Coco added, throwing an arm around Red's shoulder and pulling her close. Red jolted under the sudden contact, but didn't try to pull away. "She's our little asskicker, this one."

"...People actually do that?" Weiss asked. "Harass the Faunus students, I mean."

"Oh, yeah," Coco said, her voice taking on an edge. "Velvet's been targeted since day one. It's bad enough that nobody on our team has any friends outside of the rest of the team and you guys because nobody wants to risk being targeted as well."

Weiss shook her head. "Geez, and I thought those guys back at the library were exaggerating… And the teachers allow this?"

"They don't know, mostly," Fox said with a shrug. "Most of the time, it's our word against the bullies, and they're careful to cover their tracks and have other people give them alibis when needed. The staff tries their best, but there's only so much they can do."

Velvet hesitated before focusing on Weiss. "...I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm surprised you care, given who your family is."

Weiss crossed her arms, huffing irritably. "I'll admit to not being the biggest fan of Faunus, but I have my reasons – White Fang-related mostly – and I'm no longer dumb enough to think that Ozpin would allow a White Fang member into this school."

It took all of Red's willpower not to flinch. Next to her, she saw Blake shift slightly, though she had no idea why.

"Anyway," the heiress continued, "my reasons are my own, and nobody else on Remnant outside the Schnee family has cause to share them. Anyone who does is just intolerant, which is inexcusable. We're all here to fight Grimm; fighting amongst ourselves is pointless."

"Spoken like someone who really likes Oobleck's class," Coco pointed out.

"...I'll admit that he's making me re-evaluate some of my beliefs, as is Red herself."

"Hey, you'll get no complaints from me. So long as you're not treating Vel here any differently, we're cool. Right, Vel?"

The rabbit Faunus shrugged. "I mean, sure. I can't say I approve of your mindset, but I can at least understand it given your relationship with the White Fang. Plus, it's good to know that you're at least being somewhat open-minded about it."

"Anyway," Yatsuhashi interjected, "the point is, we've all been curious to see Red's combat abilities since Velvet told us about her."

"...I'll do it," Red said aloud, taking them all by surprise. Truthfully, she just wanted to get their focus away from Weiss and onto something else, but getting to test herself against Pyrrha once more would be good too.

"Right now?" Pyrrha asked, earning a nod.

"Yes!" Nora said. "I'll go get us a ring!"

The hammer-wielder took off like a bullet, Ren trailing behind her. After a moment to finish their meals, everyone else followed. As they walked, Weiss dropped back to stand beside Red.

"Good luck out there," she said. After a brief pause, she added, "And if anyone else tries to harass you again, you should let us know, and we can all go to the teachers together."

Red nodded in understanding. Inwardly, she made a promise not to get any of them involved. So far, nothing had escalated beyond rude notes and the occasional incident, which were hardly worth notice. Even if things got physical, she was still perfectly capable of handling it herself. No matter what happened, she was going to do her best to keep them all far away from her problems.

As far as Red was concerned, her issues were her own.

* * *

The two combatants stood across from each other, staring each other down. Both were dressed in their combat outfits, and each had dropped into a combat stance – Pyrrha stood there with her sword and shield in hand, while Red stood with a hand poised over her holster, just waiting for the signal to start.

Coco stood off to the side, acting as the referee for this match. "Remember the rules – victory is by ring-out, surrender, or aura depletion. If your aura drops to twenty-five percent or below, you're out. Since Goodwitch isn't here, we'll all be keeping a very close eye on your auras to make sure nobody gets hurt. Combatants ready?"

"Ready," they both called out.

"Standby… begin!"

Red immediately dropped all pretenses of reaching for her pistol, instead pulling her rifle from its spot on her back and firing off a round at Pyrrha. The champion brought her shield up to block, but Red had loaded explosive rounds in it, and the resulting detonation sent her skidding back several feet, her heels digging gouges into the arena floor. Red pressed her assault, working the bolt and firing over and over again until she felt her weapon's magazine about to run dry. Once she was down to just a few shots left, she discarded the gun in favor of charging in, knife in one hand and pistol in the other.

Pyrrha hesitantly lowered her shield, clearly expecting more sniper fire, but was forced to raise it to block Red's incoming knife swipe, which was aimed at her throat. Doing so exposed her legs, and the Faunus squeezed off several rounds into her knees, causing her to buckle and fall. As she fell, Red dashed behind her, locking her in a chokehold and going for several stabs to the chest. Pyrrha raised her shield to ward off the stabs, though she could do nothing about the arm that had tightened around her throat and was choking the aura out of her.

Suddenly, Pyrrha sharply rolled over onto her stomach, then went for several stabs of her own, digging her sword into Red's stomach. The Faunus was forced to disengage, which she did by releasing her hostage and speeding over to the other side of the arena, scooping up her discarded rifle in the process. Again, the two stared each other down. Red had definitely been the winner of that exchange, but it hadn't come for free; Pyrrha had done her best to get a few retaliatory strikes in, and there was no doubt that she wouldn't be fooled by the same strategy twice.

The redhead quickly shifted her sword into its rifle form, squeezing off several shots as she dashed towards Red. Red, in turn, rushed to meet her, moving in a sidewinder pattern, firing pistol shots the entire time; she managed to avoid all of Pyrrha's gunfire, even landing a few shots of her own, but the Mistralian champion simply powered through them unperturbed. The two met with a clashing of steel, their blades connecting at the center of the arena.

Then, suddenly, Red felt that familiar weight grab hold of the metal magazines on her chest and pull her down. Unbalanced, it was easy for Pyrrha to take advantage, which she did by driving her knee into Red's nose. The Faunus flinched, which gave her opponent plenty of time to capitalize with a series of slashes, culminating in a powerful shield bash that sent her flying back several feet. Red landed on her back, but was quick to roll back onto her feet.

Again, the two stared each other down, both of them circling with their blades in hand and daring the other to make a move. The whole time, Red replayed the exchange in her head along with what she remembered of her first fight with Pyrrha, trying to figure out what her opponent's trick was. It was a semblance of some kind, that much was certain, but what was the connecting factor? She had seen Pyrrha use it on Nora's grenades, as well as on her own weapons, and she had felt it be used on the metal magazines in her chest rig…

Red's eyes narrowed in understanding. There was one thing left to try, and if it worked, she would have figured out Pyrrha's semblance.

Quickly disengaging, Red darted to the other side of the arena, much to her opponent's confusion. Then, before Pyrrha had a chance to react, Red began to remove parts of her outfit. Her satchel, chest rig, plate carrier, weapons… if it had metal in it, it had to go. Within seconds, all of her gear was lying on the ground, leaving her in just her street clothes and her bare hands.

Pyrrha blinked, surprised, but then smirked. She raised her rifle, and Red again found herself forced to move forwards in a serpentine pattern in order to dodge the incoming gunfire. She waited for the telltale _ping_ of Pyrrha's gun that indicated she had run out of ammo, then dashed in.

Pyrrha switched her gun to sword form to defend, but Red was ready. Dodging Pyrrha's rapid slash, Red quickly got up inside her opponent's guard before going for a punch to the face. When Pyrrha raised her shield to defend, Red switched targets, aiming a punch for the redhead's crotch instead. The champion, taken by surprise at the strike, briefly dropped her guard, which gave Red plenty of time to aim a series of semblance-enhanced strikes to her liver and spleen before she had a chance to retaliate. When she did, by going for a shield bash, Red simply sped to her side, swept her legs out from beneath her, then went for a neck crank. Pyrrha struggled, but was unable to break out from the lock; Red maintained the hold, watching as Pyrrha's aura flared and then began to fade.

Then the redhead surprised her by reaching out with her semblance, pulling Red's pistol to herself from across the arena. Dropping her sword for it, Pyrrha angled the gun back behind her and fired, striking Red in the face with the last shot in the weapon. The gunshot weakened her enough that her hold slackened, and Pyrrha was able to free herself. Tossing Red's gun aside, she instead picked up her sword and went to work, locking the two of them into a dance of death – Pyrrha would lash out with a slash or stab, Red would dodge using her aura while looking for an opening. Both of them were waiting for the other to tire out or make a mistake.

As it turned out, the first one to do so was Red. She dodged one of Pyrrha's slashes, but as she backpedaled, her foot landed on a spent shell casing. She slipped for a second, but that second was all Pyrrha needed to hit her in the throat with the edge of her shield, then follow up with a series of slashes, culminating in a leg sweep that brought Red down to the ground. Once she was there, Pyrrha slammed the edge of her shield into Red's throat, then pressed down on it with all her strength. Red's aura flared in order to keep her throat from being crushed.

Beneath the shield, Red struggled. From this position, there was very little she could do to escape – Pyrrha had too much leverage for her to throw the shield off, and with her aura steadily draining, her strength was going with it. Unless she did something, this fight would be over in a matter of seconds. Looking around for something to use, Red finally noticed that with how Pyrrha was standing poised over her, Red's right leg was in between her own.

As soon as the realization struck, Red kicked, driving her foot up into Pyrrha's crotch. The redhead grunted, but didn't falter. A few more kicks finally got the desired effect; the pressure slackened, and Red wasted no time in jumping to her feet, then rushing forward, wrapping her hands around Pyrrha's neck, and slamming her into the ground throat-first. Then, before she could recover, Red was upon her, pinning her to the ground with one hand and punching her in the face over and over with the other. When Pyrrha tried to fight back, Red simply sped behind her, locked her in a chokehold, and began to hit her in the kidneys instead. Each strike drove Pyrrha's breath from her, and after three or four, her resistance seemed to melt away. Red pressed the assault, unwilling to give up the advantageous position she was in; it felt bad to hammer away at such a sensitive spot, but she had come too far to lose now.

Finally, after several seconds, a buzzer sounded. Red immediately let Pyrrha go; the redhead slumped down onto the floor, trying in vain to catch her breath. The Faunus quickly helped her to her feet and dusted her off, which earned her a thankful smile.

"...Good fight," Red said softly.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to reply, though with the air driven out of her, no words came out. Realization crossed her face, and she instead wrapped one arm around Red's shoulder and pulled her close, then grabbed Red's hand and raised it high into the air.

"Oh, yeah!" Coco screamed from the stands. "That was awesome!"

Red jolted at the brunette's voice, red dusting her cheeks. She had been so caught up in the fight that she had forgotten there were people watching. A round of applause went up through the stands, and she felt her blush intensify. She wasn't used to having spectators for her fights, and she doubted she ever would be. With surprise, she realized that even Weiss was applauding, and she seemed impressed.

Maybe Yang had been on the right track after all.

Pyrrha tapped her on the shoulder. When Red turned to meet her, she found Pyrrha grinning from ear to ear.

"That was grand!" the champion said. Her voice was raspy and labored; it was clearly a struggle for her to talk given she hadn't fully recovered from Red's hold, though she was obviously not going to let that stop her.

Despite herself, Red felt a small grin cross her face.

If this was what having a lot of friends was like, then it was almost enough to make her reconsider her plans for the future.

Almost.

* * *

"Mom!"

Red watched as Coco ran forward, slamming into her mom with a hug. A small pang of jealousy flowed through her at the sight of it, but she was quick to brush it away. From what she had heard of Coco's story, she and her mom both deserved to be happy.

It was almost funny how similar the two of them looked – Coco's mom looked like an older version of her daughter, with the exception that she wore her hair long and tied back in a ponytail rather than short. After a few seconds, the two of them broke the hug, and Coco's mom turned to them all with a wide smile.

"You all must be Coco's new friends," she said. "She told me about you a few days ago. Now, who's who? I recognize Yatsuhashi, Fox, and Velvet, but I haven't put a face to anyone else's name just yet."

"Allow me," Coco said. She cleared her throat. "We've got Red, Weiss, Blake, and Yang; they form Team RWBY. Then we've got Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren; they form Team JNPR. They're all first years."

Each of them waved and offered a brief greeting in turn. Coco's mom grinned at them once more.

"A pleasure to meet you all."

"And you as well, Miss Adel," Weiss replied.

She waved Weiss off. "Oh please, call me Moca – Miss Adel makes it sound like I'm in a business meeting."

Jaune nodded. "Okay, Moca. Nice to meet you."

"And you as well, Jau-" Coco's mom turned towards, Jaune, pausing before she finished her sentence. Slowly, her smile faded.

"Uh, is something wrong?" Jaune asked.

Wordlessly, Moca approached Jaune, looking him all over as he stood there, confused. Finally, after a few seconds, she sighed heavily and said one word.

"No."

"No?" Jaune asked.

"No," she repeated, shaking her head. She poked at Jaune's armor plate, then sighed again. "No..."

"...No?"

"No."

Finally, she reached for Jaune's chest piece, pulling it away from his body slightly to look underneath. What she saw made her recoil.

"No!"

"No what?"

"No _way!_" Moca said. "Young man, you need a new set of clothes. This is unacceptable."

"...I kind of like my-"

"Oh, no. Not with that bunny rabbit on the front."

Yang smirked. "Bunny rabbit, eh? Sounds like you've got a fan, Velvet."

Velvet snickered. "Jaune, I'm flattered, but perhaps we should get to know each other a bit more?"

Jaune balked. "Wha- no! It's not a bunny rabbit, it's Pumpkin Pete!"

Coco was forced to cover her mouth to hold back her laugh. "Jaune, are you… wearing a Pumpkin Pete's hoodie?"

"Yes!"

That was too much, both for her and Yang. The two of them doubled over in a fit of laughter, all while Jaune stood there looking exasperated and everyone else watched, amused.

"What, did you send in a bunch of box tops or something?" Fox asked.

"Yes! Fifty of them!"

"So _you're _the one who won it!" Nora shouted accusingly. "I've got a bone to pick with you, mister!"

"You do?"

"Nora likes Pumpkin Pete's," Ren explained. "She really wanted that hoodie."

"I was wondering why his hoodie looked so comfy! Now I know!"

"...You ate fifty boxes of Pumpkin Pete's?" Red asked incredulously.

Jaune coughed into his hand. "Uh, yeah."

"...How? That stuff is nasty."

Nora gasped, offended. "How dare you! And here I was, thinking we had gotten past that awkward breakfast meeting we had! I thought we had finally reached an understanding, but I cannot sit back and allow this blasphemy to stand! Pumpkin Pete's is great – it's only the sugariest breakfast cereal in all of Remnant!"

"I think that's her point," Weiss pointed out, to Red's surprise.

"I'm inclined to agree," Pyrrha interjected. "And I would know – they made me eat a bunch of it as part of their sponsorship."

Suddenly, Moca cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "Well, I'm going to go get Jaune fitted for some actual clothes – and don't try and act like you can't afford it, mister; it's on the house."

"Ma'am, please-" Jaune said frantically.

"I've got this, Mom," Coco said. Motioning to Jaune, she said, "Jaune, this stuff you're wearing? Girl repellent. Am I right, ladies?"

Everyone except Red and Pyrrha nodded in agreement, though Pyrrha ended up joining them after a moment's consideration. That was all it took for him to cease all arguments. His mouth closed with a click, and he finally stopped struggling as Coco's mom dragged him off towards the men's section.

"Feel free to try stuff on!" she called out to them.

Coco watched them go, then turned back towards the rest of the group. "You heard the lady. Store's all yours, everyone. Go nuts."

"...Well, I have been meaning to pick up something a bit more casual," Blake said. She turned to Red. "Want to search for something together?"

"Actually," Weiss interjected, "I was hoping Red could help me pick out some dedicated combat shoes. My heels aren't as suited for fighting as I thought, and she seems to have the most practical taste in footwear out of all the girls here."

Both Red and Blake blinked in surprise, though Blake was quick to relent with a shrug. "Sure, go right ahead."

"Excellent." Weiss took Red by the hand, leading her over to the shoes. The whole time, Red tried to shake off the unpleasant feelings that physical contact with Weiss were giving to her, and failing miserably.

It was a great relief when they finally stopped at the shoe aisle. Looking around, Weiss hummed in thought before turning to Red.

"What do you recommend?"

Red took a moment to gather herself before answering. Thinking back to what Almost and Sienna had taught her about choosing her gear, she said, "...Something tough, capable of lasting through rough environments. They should be waterproof, and cover up to your ankles. You want a soft inner sole and a hard outer sole, and both should be replaceable."

"Any specific material to keep an eye on?"

"Hard leather."

Again, Weiss hummed in thought before finally picking out a pair, showing them to Red. "Are these okay?"

The Faunus took them, examining them with a careful eye. After a moment, she shook her head. "These are tactical boots."

"There's a difference?"

"These aren't built for heavy combat and will fall apart easier."

"Drat, and I liked the color on them, too… Oh, well."

Setting them aside, Weiss reached for another pair. "How about these?"

That was how it went for the next several minutes – Weiss would pick out some shoes, Red would give her opinion, and they would either be put back or set aside to be tried on later. It was a very mundane activity, but Red had to admit that it felt nice. As strange as it felt to say, she could feel herself getting used to Weiss' presence; a few weeks ago, and she never would have let herself be one-on-one with the heiress. Now, she was alone with her, helping her shop for boots.

"Aha! Found you!" Red heard Coco say from behind, which snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Coco," Red said with a nod. She noticed that the brunette had a stack of shirts in her hand. "What are those?"

"Something for you to try on. I thought you'd look good in these."

"...You're not going to give them to me, are you?"

The edges of Coco's mouth quirked upwards slightly. "You know, sometimes it can be fun to just try things on even if you don't plan on getting them."

"...So, no?"

"Not if you don't want me to. That being said, I would like you to try them on, just so I can see how they'd look."

"Because it'd be fun?"

"Yeah." She paused. "Also, when's your birthday?"

"Smooth," Weiss deadpanned.

"Hey, don't blame me for trying." The brunette turned back towards Red, gently waving her off. "Go on, now. And if it's not too much trouble, try to be quick about it – I want to see how they look on you, but I also don't want to miss seeing Mom go crazy with Jaune, because seeing her go off on some fashion disaster is always a laugh riot."

Red nodded in understanding, then made her way over to where the changing rooms were. All of them looked to be occupied except for one, so she took that one. Stepping inside, she went to close and lock the door, only to pause when she discovered the reason why nobody had taken it: the lock appeared to be broken. Briefly, she considered waiting for another changing room to open, but Coco _had _told her to be quick about it…

She would just be careful, then. Looking around to make sure there were no hidden cameras, Red began the task of trying them on, then heading back so Coco could give her opinion. There were five shirts in total; Coco definitely had a knack for this sort of thing, because even Red could tell that they looked good on her just by looking in a mirror.

Finally, she was down to the last shirt. She took off the one she had on, folding it as best as she could before placing it back on the hanger and setting it aside, then reaching for the last one.

She had just finished taking it off the hanger when she heard the door behind her come swinging open.

Instinctively, Red clutched the shirt in her hands tight to her torso, doing her best to cover up her most noticeable scar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw long, blonde hair. Her heart began to hammer in her chest.

"Oh, shit! I'm so sor-"

Yang trailed off with a gasp, her eyes widening. Whatever she was holding in her hands came clattering to the floor as she covered her mouth in shock.

"Gods above..."

Red squeezed her eyes shut. This was it, then; Yang had seen her scar, and would know everything. She was going to have to leave Beacon. She had always intended to, but not like this.

"Red, your back..."

Tentatively, the Faunus opened her eyes in shock. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Yang was focused on her back, her eyes wide with shock and disgust. Softly, she breathed a sigh of relief; her worst secret was still hidden.

"Are those bullet holes?!" Yang asked, her voice taking on an edge. "What happened? Who did this to you?!"

The wolf stood there, unsure of how to proceed. Her instincts were telling her to try and play it off, but she knew that there was no getting out of it – judging by Yang's reaction, she was going to have some explaining to do, and it was going to have to be good if she didn't want anyone to suspect anything.

Red swallowed nervously, then nodded. "...I'll tell you later," she promised. "When we get back to the dorm, and it's just us four. I don't want anyone else to know yet..."

Yang nodded in understanding. "Okay. I won't tell a soul."

With that, the blonde left, though she didn't go far; Red could tell that she was standing guard just outside the door, making sure that nobody accidentally intruded the way she had. The wolf cast a glance over at the pile of clothes, then sighed.

Suddenly, she wasn't in the mood to play dress-up anymore.

* * *

By the time they all returned to Beacon, it was dark. They had made a few stops afterwards, though they had split up when Blake had expressed a desire to travel back to Tukson's bookstore, since all involved knew that it would be a bad idea to send Weiss into the Faunus side of town. Unfortunately, not even getting to visit Tukson alongside Blake and CFVY had lightened Red's mood; she had remained nervous the entire day, knowing what was going to happen once they got back to their dorm.

As soon as they were all safely inside with the door shut behind them, Yang rounded on Red.

"Okay," she said gently, "talk to me. Who do I have to beat up?"

Blake and Weiss exchanged a surprised glance. "What's this about?" Blake asked.

"...Yang saw something she shouldn't have," Red replied.

"That's putting it lightly," the blonde said. "Why hide them, Red?"

"Hide what?" Weiss asked.

"...My scars," Red answered. The entire room fell silent. She sighed heavily. "...I don't like people seeing them. They're ugly, and remind me of bad times. I don't like talking about them for the same reason."

"Hey," Yang said, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. "Don't say that. There's no part of you that's ugly, you hear me?"

Red froze at the sudden contact. Weiss touching her was one thing, but Yang? The Faunus bit her lip as she felt tears well up in her eyes. For ten years, she had gone without her sister's physical affection. To have it now was bittersweet, especially when she knew Yang didn't realize who she was. Even worse, Yang was showing her affection when she absolutely didn't deserve it – not after everything she'd done.

Gently, yet agonizingly, Red pulled herself away from her sister's embrace, being careful to quickly blink away her unshed tears before anyone noticed them. She looked down at the floor, as much to conceal the fact that she had almost started crying as to convince them that the story she was about to tell them was true.

"...I didn't have a good life," she began. "I spent the first ten years of my life alone on the streets of the Mistral slums, scrounging through trash and begging from strangers just to get through the day. I had to watch my back constantly, because there was always someone waiting to take advantage of me or steal whatever I managed to get. I couldn't trust anybody. Even the people who were willing to give me some money or some spare food couldn't be trusted; I saw too many girls just like me go with them and come back broken, if they came back at all."

"Is that how you got those scars?" Yang asked. "Living on the streets, I mean."

The Faunus nodded. "Yes. Lots of people didn't think twice about hurting me to try and get something from me, or just to get me to go away."

"All of them?"

Red hesitated. "...No."

"Wait, 'all of them'?" Blake asked. "How many are we talking about here?"

Yang exhaled sharply. "...It's bad," she admitted. "Her entire back is covered in them."

Immediately, Blake whipped around to face her friend. "Red, let me see," she said gently.

The wolf swallowed nervously. If it was just her back, then it was okay. Besides, it wasn't anything that Yang hadn't already seen. Slowly, she turned around, then lifted her shirt up.

Everyone's breath hitched.

"Gods..." Blake muttered.

"Despicable..." Weiss said softly. "To think that anyone could do this to a child… thankfully, you managed to get out."

"I had help," Red admitted, lowering her shirt and turning back around. "One day, shortly after I turned ten, I tried to pick the wrong person's pocket. He turned out to be a Freelancer – an unofficial Huntsman, of sorts. His name was Alex Azul. Rather than try to hurt me like anyone else, he… he took me in. Gave me a place to stay when nobody else would. The only thing he asked of me in return was that I train to fight alongside him, so I could help watch his back in the field. I owe everything I have to him."  
Everyone seemed relieved at that… except Yang. Instead, the blonde seemed uneasy, as if she had just realized something that the others had overlooked.

"Red, you..." Her voice was hesitant, as if she didn't want to say anything, but found herself compelled to anyway. "...You aren't leaving anything out, are you?"

Surprised, the Faunus shook her head. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you think I'm leaving out?"

"I..." Again, she paused. After a moment, she let out a sigh that seemed laden with reluctance. "...I don't think your scars match up with what you're telling us. I think there's something you're not telling us about your mentor."

Red frowned. "Like what?"

"Yang, where are you going with this?" Blake asked.

"Hold on a sec," Yang said, before turning back to her team leader. "Red, what weapons did your mentor use?"

"All kinds," she said with a shrug. "He had his own private armory in his house, and wasn't all that particular. He didn't even name them; to him, they were just tools."

"Did he have any favorites?"

"He usually liked to use blades – swords and knives, mainly. Why?"

"It's just… I noticed that most of the scars on your back seemed to have come from blades."

Everyone paused, looking at Yang in shock. The blonde cleared her throat, then took a step forward.

"Red, please be honest. If I'm wrong, I'm begging you, let me know. But if I'm right..." She took a deep breath. "Red, did he hurt you?"

Blake frowned. "Yang, how can you be-"

Yang held up a hand, stopping her. "Please, let her answer."

Red blinked, unsure of what to do, and cursing herself for slipping up with her answer. Obviously, she could simply deny everything, but if Yang already had her suspicions, then that wouldn't do much good; at worst, she would just end up catching Red in another half-truth, forcing her to come up with something else.

After a moment, Red sighed. "...He did, sometimes."

She was completely unprepared for Yang to sweep her up into a big hug. Instantly, the Faunus froze, the uncomfortable feelings from earlier coming back, coupled with a fresh round of unshed tears.

"I'm sorry," Yang said. "What he did wasn't right. I mean, I get that he took you off the streets, but he had no right to do that to you."

Red simply nodded, numb. Again, she found herself forced to blink away her tears. After a few more seconds, Yang released her, and she did her best to put on a neutral expression.

"...I know," she said softly. "But it doesn't matter; Azul is gone now, most likely dead. I don't know what happened to him, and I probably never will, but it's not important. I'm not in Mistral anymore. That part of my life is over."

The blonde cracked a small, relieved smile. "Yeah. Now you're here, with us."

Weiss suddenly stepped forward, looking a lot more guilty. "I'm sorry," she announced.

Red stared at her, confused. "Why?"

The heiress looked away, clearly uncomfortable. "I treated you so poorly for so long. I thought you were just another Faunus, out to get me because of my last name. But now..." She shook her head. "Now, I can see that I was wrong. You're so much more than that. You brought yourself up from nothing to get here, even if you had to let that… that… that _bastard _treat you like a punching bag in order to do it."

Everyone exchanged a glance, surprised at the fact that Weiss – the upper-class, sophisticated, prissy Schnee heiress – had just cussed in front of them. She seemed to realize this and huffed irritably.

"Sorry. That just… hits a bit close to home." She trailed off, clearly intending to leave it at that, but after seeing the glances everyone was giving her, let out another sigh. "Oh, why not? We're all teammates anyway, so I guess there's no harm."

Yang stepped close to her. "Weiss, you don't have to-"

"No, I think I should," the heiress interrupted. She took a deep breath. "...My whole life, I've had my father's expectations placed on my shoulders. I'm supposed to look a certain way, act a certain way, and think a certain way. I'm supposed to uphold the 'Schnee image'." She scoffed. "How ironic that the man telling me to do so isn't even a real Schnee – he married into the family and took my mother's last name. He doesn't even care about any of us; he only wants the company. Everyone else is trash to him. He drove my sister away, he made my mother turn to alcohol to cope, he's indoctrinating my brother into being a miniature version of him, and he treats me like I'm an idiot, heaping all kinds of abuse on me – sometimes physical, mostly verbal. Nothing I do is ever good enough for him, and he lets me know it. He doesn't care about any of his family members, least of all me. But that's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me..."

She suddenly trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Yang seemed to know what was coming, as she walked over to Weiss and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Weiss gave her a grateful look before continuing.

"...Everyone else knows this next part except you, Red," she said. Her tone was different; all the venom had disappeared from it, replaced with fear. "I'll try and keep it brief, I guess. Not because I don't want to tell you, but because it's difficult to talk about.

"Two years ago, I was almost killed by a White Fang assassin."

Red's eyes widened. She blinked, and suddenly she could see everything again as clear as day – there was the armored car, and the mutilated bodies of four Huntsmen scattered around in the snow. Blood and gore covered the ground all around her, and she herself was absolutely dripping with it. Looking up, she found herself staring into a set of terrified sky-blue eyes, filled with fearful tears. She heard Weiss crying, begging for mercy; at the same time, she heard her mentor's voice in her head, screaming at her to do what she had been trained to do.

The Faunus blinked again, and she was back in the dorm, as if nothing had happened. She placed a hand on her chest to try and calm her rapidly-pounding heart, and found herself forced to take several deep breaths to regain her composure.

"...And when I told father about it, you know what he said?" Weiss asked.

That was right; Weiss had been telling her the story. She hadn't heard any of it, but it didn't matter; she knew how it ended. Red shook her head softly, and the heiress continued.

"He said I was being weak. That if a little assassination attempt was all it took to reduce me to a sniveling wreck, that maybe I wasn't fit to run the company after all."

Vaguely, Red was aware of Yang letting out a low growl as she clenched and unclenched her fists over and over again. Blake, meanwhile, was simply listening attentively, but looking closely, Red could make out a strange look on her face, though the wolf had no idea what it meant. Guilt, perhaps? Remorse? Both were preposterous; Blake had nothing to feel bad about in this case.

Why she might be feeling that way, Red had no idea.

"Thankfully, I had some help in the form of my older sister." Weiss' fearful expression relaxed at bit at that. She wiped away a few tears, then continued. "...Winter was always somewhat cold, but that stopped completely after what happened. She pretty much turned into the mom I never had after that – for as long as she was on leave, she was always there for me, helping me through the worst of it, never once implying that I was weak or anything. She even let me sleep in her bed with her whenever I had a nightmare and couldn't fall back asleep." She cracked a small smile. "One time, Father caught her trying to help me through a panic attack. He accused her of coddling me, and her response was to simply put a hand on her sword and remind him that she was a trained soldier, and that if he ever said anything like that to me again, she would, to quote her, 'fuck him up'. That's the only time I've ever heard my sister swear, and I suspect the only time anyone else has, either."

"She sounds great," Yang said.

Weiss nodded. "She is. I'd love for you all to meet her at some point. But anyway..." She sighed, then looked back to Red. "The whole time, I've been projecting the image of the person who attacked me onto you. I refused to look past your heritage and see who you really are. For that, you have my apologies."

Then, to Red's amazement, Weiss approached her and held out a hand.

"I can see now that I was wrong. If it's okay with you, I'd like to start over." She took a breath, then cracked a smile. "Hello, Red. My name is Weiss Schnee. I hope we can be good friends."

Red eyed Weiss' outstretched hand, her heart feeling like it was about to burst out of her ribcage. Every instinct was screaming at her not to accept it, that even if Weiss didn't recognize who she was, it was still wrong on a fundamental level. She had hurt Weiss severely, injured her in a way that would never heal. Being teammates was one thing – it was temporary and fleeting, and in time, Weiss would forget about her. But friendship was different; it was more personal, more permanent. It was something she didn't want.

"Red?"

The Faunus shook herself out of her stunned stupor, only to find Weiss staring at her. The heiress' smile had disappeared, replaced with a look of concern and uncertainty.

"You spaced out for a moment," Weiss explained. "Do you want to be friends? I mean, I would love to, but if you can't forgive me for my earlier actions, then..."  
Again, Red gazed at her partner. Weiss suddenly looked very guilty and remorseful; she seemed to think that her earlier actions had cost her a possible friendship. Internally, Red cursed herself; it seemed that no matter what she picked, Weiss was going to end up getting hurt. Either she accepted Weiss' offer of friendship with all the baggage it entailed, or she refused it, forcing Weiss to go on thinking she had messed it up herself, when the truth was that it was never her fault.

It wasn't an easy choice to make.

Ultimately, Red went with the one whose effects she would never personally see.

Reaching out, the Faunus gently took hold of Weiss' hand with her own. The heiress looked at her with surprise, though it changed to a thin smile when Red began to shake her hand.

"Friends," Red said softly. It felt dirty to say, but that was okay.

In a few years, it wouldn't matter.

From her side, Blake let out a sigh. "Well, I guess it's my turn now," she announced. Shrugging, she said, "I don't have much to say, not like the two of you. I grew up in a small village outside of Vale. I was the only child of two human parents who loved me. Everything was fine until about a year ago, when my village was attacked by Grimm and destroyed. I lost everything that day, and swore I would have my revenge one way or another. At some point, I decided there was no better way to get it than to come here."

"I'd say you made the right choice," Yang replied.

Blake cracked a small smile. "I'll admit, at first I wasn't sure. But now, I think I did, too." She crossed her arms. "Anyway, that's about it for me; not much else to report. How about you, Yang?"

The blonde shrugged. "Nothing quite so out-there. I'm here because, ten years ago, my mom was murdered and my baby sister went missing. My dad and my uncle have been looking all across Remnant ever since, trying to find my sister, but they've got nothing. I'm planning to become a Huntress, then help them search. I was planning to explore all across Remnant, taking odd jobs to keep myself fed and turning over every stone I could until I found her."

Red felt her heart all but snap in half at her sister's declaration. For just a moment, she felt an overwhelming urge to tell Yang the truth, to alleviate her worst fears and finally put all her questions to bed after ten long years of finding nothing, but ultimately, she pushed the thought from her head almost as soon as it came up.

Her time to return back to her family had come and gone a long while ago. If she were to try and go back now, it would bring nothing but heartache for all of them.

They were better off thinking she was lost instead of knowing she was a monster.

Suddenly, Yang let out a low chuckle. "Geez, listen to us – we've all got some messed-up stuff in our pasts. Guess we've got a bit more in common than we all thought, huh?"

"I suppose," Weiss admitted with a shrug. Suddenly, she let out a wide yawn. "I don't know about all of you, but I am _really _tired."

"Bed sounds good," Yang agreed. "Blake?"

"...I was going to read that new book I bought, but suddenly I'm inclined to agree with both of you."

Red simply nodded. The faster this conversation could end, the better. Any longer, and she just knew she would be tempted to say something she shouldn't. Luckily, as bad as it had gone for her, the aftermath didn't look like it would be too drastic.

And even if it was, it wasn't something she would ever get to experience personally.

* * *

**And there it is. Red and Weiss – friends at last. It took a while to get here, but now's my chance to really run wild with it. Unfortunately, both Red and Blake are continuing to pile on the lies and half-truths, hoping that nobody bothers to dig too deeply into them. It's interesting, writing those two – they have this weird dynamic where they're both really good friends, and the entire friendship is based on an ever-growing stack of lies.  
**

**Anyway, speaking of running wild, there's some more combat for you, mainly because I like writing fight scenes a bit too much. There will be more in the future once we pass a certain point, but for now I'm still taking things a bit slow and really trying to milk Beacon for all it's worth. **

**While we're on the subject of Beacon, I should mentioned that I'm intent on not following along with the canon story beats for too long, but until I really start to diverge from them, I'll be making the most out of them. I won't be sticking with the school setting for the whole story, and it provides a lot of opportunities for things I want to do that I can't really get anywhere else, so I'm going to stick with it for as long as it takes to hit on everything I want to do, then branch out, which will take me a lot less time than you might think. I won't give a definite timeframe or anything, but trust me, it will go by quicker than it seems.**

**Besides that, I'd like to talk about Coco for a bit. So, Coco actually does have a canon family, according to _After The Fall. _We know for a fact that she has two brothers (Toma and Mate) as well as an unnamed father, but there was never any mention of her mother. I decided to take that and run wild with it, working it until I got something that seemed to fit this story. The result is Coco's asshole biological dad, her amazing stepdad, and her mother as presented by me. And let me just say, I can't wait for another canon story to come out and contradict all of it, I'm definitely gonna get a kick out of seeing just how far off-base I was. **

**Anyway, in addition, _all _the backstories came out to play this chapter. Frankly, it's been a long time coming – all these characters have been keeping secrets from each other for _way _too long. And, of course, two of them are _still _keeping secrets from the other two, convinced that these are things they'll have to take to their graves. We'll just have to see about that, won't we?**

**Before I go, a word about my author's notes. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who's responded to the questions I pose in them – you guys are awesome, and every piece of input you give me is **_**very **_**helpful. ****I also find it funny how every time I've expressed concern about something I'm doing, you all seem to think it's the opposite. ****Man, t****hank God I'm working on crack on the side; ****if my tunnel vision is this bad right now, I**** can't imagine ****how bad it would be if I was only working on this.**

**In all seriousness, I definitely don't intend to give off the impression that I'm super anxious about what I'm doing here, I'm just really trying to get a read on the areas I need to improve on for my next fic, whatever that ends up being (I'm torn between like five different ideas at once and can't pick one, send help). ****I will admit to having some concern, but I consider it healthy concern – the kind you **_**should **_**have about a piece of work you're presenting to an audience. It's basically enough to make sure I don't get complacent, but not too much that I want to stop posting, which I consider a good balance.**

**Anyway, what I'm getting at is thank you to everybody who answers my questions in these A/Ns, I honestly can't overstate just how helpful you all are, both for this fic and for my future fics. You're all awesome, and I owe you all a lot more than I could ever repay.**

**N****ext update: Saturday, ****May 9.**


	13. Chapter 13

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 13

* * *

Red stood across from her opponents, her pistol in one hand and her knife in the other. There were three of them, each with wildly different combat styles. Two of them were people she had fought before, but the third was someone completely knew, even though Red knew about their fighting style. The odds were not in her favor, yet she was confident; she had faced tougher opponents than these and emerged victorious, even if not unscathed. This fight would be no different.

The first to move was Yang. The brawler angled her gauntlets behind her, firing off two shotgun shells loaded with high-explosive slugs, which sent her rocketing towards Red with one hand cocked back. Red simply stood her ground, watching and waiting for the right time to strike.

_Now._

As Yang grew closer, Red raised her pistol and fired off a single shot, which hit the blonde square between the eyes before detonating. Her momentum suddenly stalled, Yang came crashing to the ground, just in time for Red to dart forward using her semblance and knee her in the chin before grabbing her by the neck and slamming her down into the ground.

Red's ears twitched at the sound of incoming feet, and she found herself forced to duck out of the way to avoid a slash from a katana. Blake was unfazed by her missed sneak attack, instead following up with another from the cleaver in her off-hand, one which was parried by her team leader. Red leveled her gun at her friend's face and fired off two rounds, only for Blake to disappear into smoke before emerging on her left side, again going for a slash with her katana. Rather than try to dodge, Red threw her knife into the ground point-first, then caught Blake's sword with her newly-freed hand before bringing her gun up a second time. Blake had no time to react before Red squeezed off three rounds, each one striking her in the chest and sending her flying backwards. Her grip on her sword loosened as she went, and with a small tug, Red was suddenly holding it in her hand.

She transitioned from a grip around the blade to one around the hilt just in time to block Weiss' incoming strike with it. The heiress' eyes widened in surprise as their blades scraped off each other, and Red capitalized on her hesitation by shooting Blake's gun at her. Weiss managed to block it with a small wall of ice, but Red simply dashed behind her with her semblance, intending to intercept.

She never got the chance to, as Yang took the time to re-enter the fight, leaping in front of Weiss with her hands held in a boxer's stance. She batted Red's stab aside effortlessly, sending Blake's sword clattering to the ground, then launched into a series of punches, each one punctuated by a blast from her gauntlets. Red met each one with a block of her own, parrying Yang's strikes and redirecting her punches all at once. The brawler's face began to contort with rage at the idea that she was being manhandled by someone so much smaller than her, though despite her best efforts, she was unable to do anything about it.

A shout from behind caught Red's attention, and she disengaged from Yang just in time to mostly dodge Blake's strike, her cleaver scraping along the wolf's back but otherwise doing no real damage. Just as she dodged, Weiss came flying towards her on a glyph, though Red intercepted her with a shot to the head before she could get there, which sent the heiress sprawling. Before she could get up, Red darted behind her and pulled her into a headlock, placing the barrel of her gun flush against the heiress' head. Weiss struggled in her grip, but Red simply tightened her grasp around her friend's neck.

Blake and Yang paused, unsure about what to do. Yang took a step forwards, but Red pistol-whipping Weiss was enough to get her to stay where she was, though she did send Red a harsh glare. For a while, nobody made any moves, instead simply staying where they were and taking stock of the situation, trying to decide what to do.

Red moved first, loosening her grip around the heiress' neck and shoving her forwards, then emptying her gun into her back before quickly swapping magazines. With Weiss now free, Blake and Yang both charged forwards at the same time, Blake scooping up her dropped sword as she did so. Yang got there first, going for a right hook; Red narrowly avoided it, then replied with a jab to Yang's spleen. The blonde exhaled sharply as the wind was driven out from her lungs, which gave Red just enough time to block Blake's overhead slash with her gun. The ravenette was quick to follow up with another from her cleaver, though a fast backpedal from her opponent left her overextended and vulnerable. Red fired off two rounds at her, but again, she simply turned to shadow and disappeared, reappearing on her right. Unfortunately for her, Red heard her coming; this time, her two shots didn't miss. Blake stumbled, caught off-guard, and Red quickly swept her legs out from beneath her, bringing her crashing to the floor.

Before she could fire off any more shots, a black glyph encased her hand, pushing her aim away from her downed teammate. This time, Weiss and Yang both came rushing in, Yang in the lead. The blonde surprised her by going for a leg sweep instead of a strike of some kind, bringing Red crashing to the ground. She landed on her back, but was able to roll away moments before Yang's fist came down, leaving a crater in the arena floor. She came to a stop a few feet away and went to raise her gun, but again the glyph pushed her aim off, causing her bullet to fly into the ceiling instead.

The heiress followed up with a downwards stab, though Red was able to bat the blade away at the last moment, embedding it into the ground next to her shoulder. Surprised, Weiss was unprepared for Red to suddenly reach out, grab her by the back of the head, and slam their foreheads together; before Weiss could fully recover, Red grabbed hold of her long hair and pulled as hard as she could, succeeding in using it to reverse their positions.

And not a moment too soon, as Yang came back around for another go. The blonde missed Red's torso, though she did succeed in hitting Red's hand, sending her pistol skidding across the arena floor. She went for a follow-up, but Red wasn't having it. Instead, the wolf disengaged completely, running back to where she had left her knife stuck into the ground and grabbing it, holding the blade between two fingers. When Yang began to run after her, Red threw the knife, aiming for right between the blonde's eyes. Yang deflected it, but left herself open for Red to charge in and drive her knee into her gut, then grab her hair and pull, sending her crashing into the ground back-first.

The blonde let out a loud yell as she landed, pumping her fists together. Her eyes turned red and her hair began to glow as if on fire. She pushed herself off the ground and went for Red once more, though this time she had Blake and Weiss alongside her. The heiress went to hold Red in place with a black glyph, but it was only down for a second before Red ripped her sniper rifle from its spot on her back and fired a Lightning Dust round directly into Weiss' throat. The heiress convulsed in place from the electricity, her concentration broken and her glyph disappearing just in time for Red to move out of the way of Yang's incoming hook, grab hold of her arm, use it as leverage to spin her around, and then shove her into Blake. Red raised her rifle, then fired again, hitting Yang in the back of the head with another Lightning Dust round. Yang did her best to spin around and work through the pain, gritting her teeth as she took a shaky step forward, but Red didn't give her the chance to retaliate. Instead, the wolf fired three more shots into her, finally managing to bring her down as a buzzer sounded.

Suddenly, a dome of light purple glyphs sprung up around her, making her frown. Clearly, Weiss was going for a tactic she knew would work. From between two of the glyphs, Red could see the heiress gritting her teeth in concentration, doing her best to keep the dome up. Red raised her rifle to take a shot at her, but was blindsided by Blake rushing in with her katana. With no other options, Red found herself forced to drop her rifle and go for hand-to-hand, which she did by catching Blake's wrist and twisting it. She never got the chance to bring Blake down, as the ravenette slashed at her hand with her cleaver and forced her to let go, but it did accomplish its intended purpose of stopping the attack cold.

Retreat wasn't an option with the dome up, so Red went on the offensive. She sped towards Blake, striking her in the solar plexus with a punch. Blake lashed out with her katana, but Red had already sped away. Half a second later, the wolf struck her again, this time in her back. Again, Blake tried to fight back, but Red had already moved on, this time striking her in the face. Blake reeled from the hit, and Red quickly dashed behind her and swept her legs out from beneath her, then in the same motion grabbed Blake's head and twisted. Blake's aura managed to save her neck from being broken, but it took all she had; a buzzer sounded for the second time that match, and Red let her fall to the ground, where she sat breathing heavily.

Two down, one to go.

Red scooped up her abandoned rifle, then took aim at the nearest set of glyphs. Firing off what was left in the magazine, she managed to shatter them, then emerged from the dome-shaped prison and began to rush towards Weiss. The heiress' eyes widened as she sprinted; she dropped the dome in order to defend herself, but it was too late. Red closed the distance, then slammed her rifle's stock against Weiss' face, sending her sprawling. Before she could get up, Red pressed the gun's stock against Weiss' throat, then pushed down with all her body weight. Weiss squirmed, trying to get the heavy gun off her throat, but it was to no avail. Moments later, the buzzer sounded for a third and final time.

"Red is the winner," Pyrrha announced. Turning to the Faunus, she gave her a small grin. "I see you learned a new tactic from our fight together."  
Red nodded in confirmation, then bent down and offered Weiss her hand. The heiress accepted, and Red pulled her to her feet. She dusted herself off, then sighed heavily.

"You're just too good, you know that? I really don't know what Yang was thinking when she brought this up."

"I was thinking it might be something fun to do together," Yang said as she approached. She had Red's pistol and knife in her hands, which she tossed to the Faunus when she was close enough. Red accepted them with a thankful nod, then holstered both weapons in their rightful spots.

"You weren't wrong if your definition of fun is being curbstomped," Weiss grumbled.

"I mean, I had a good time. Kinda mad that we didn't even get a single good hit in, but it's fine."

"Speak for yourself," Blake replied as she sheathed her weapons. "I got a few in."

"You grazed her a few times, Blakey. That doesn't count."

Blake sighed, annoyed. "Are you really going to keep up with this Blakey thing?"

"Only for as long as it annoys you. Isn't that right, Ice Queen?"

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. "You're lucky we're such good friends, otherwise I wouldn't tolerate your behavior."

"You know you love me," Yang said with a smirk. Wiping some sweat off her brow, she turned to Red. "So, what do you think?"

Red blinked. "What?"

"What do you think?" Yang repeated. "Of us, I mean. What are your thoughts?"

"...Are you asking how you could improve?"

The blonde nodded vigorously. "Yeah. I mean, I figured you of all people would have the most insight on that as of this time. So, what do you think?"

Red looked to Blake and Weiss for signs on what to do, but both of them just nodded, clearly interested in what she had to say. Her mouth straightened out.

"...For one, Blake hangs back a bit too much. She could take a more direct approach, being sure to mix things up with some elemental clones from time to time instead of just shadow clones."

Blake shrugged. "You used all my Dust ammo."

"You don't carry more?"

The ravenette paused. "...Point taken," she conceded. "It was always too expensive for me to risk using it too frequently, but now that Beacon offers Dust free of charge, I guess it's not a problem. I'll be sure to pack some extra mags from now on."

Nodding, Red turned to Weiss. "You also hang back, but that's what you should be doing. You have a very powerful semblance, but it lends itself more towards support than anything else. Ideally, you should be hanging back and looking for ways to use it to benefit your team rather than trying to dash in."

Weiss nodded in understanding. "Father always did make a big deal out of me being the one to win the day, but I suppose he's the last man in the world I should be listening to, and not just because he barely even knows how to swing a sword. I will take your advice to heart."

Yang cocked her hip, resting her hand on it. "Alright, Red. I'm next. Hit me."

"You're too aggressive," Red said bluntly. "You rush in without thinking. In addition, your hand-to-hand style seems to be focused primarily on boxing. Against Grimm, this is fine, but human opponents tend to be smarter. Learning some grapples and holds would be a big help if you ever have to fight them. Also, you rely on your semblance too much – I could tell you were letting yourself get hit to power up, but that's something that should only be used as a last resort."

Yang's mouth quirked upwards. "Gee, if only there was someone around here who was skilled at unarmed fighting and could teach me about grapples and holds. Know anyone like that, Red?"

Red sighed. It had been a week since her backstory had come out, and ever since, Yang had made it a point to spend as much time as possible around her. Apparently, she wanted to extend that to training time as well.

Normally, Red would have been opposed to this, but she had been unaware of just how many holes Yang's fighting style had. If she went up against any halfway-decent fighter, she would be demolished. If Red could prevent that, then she had an obligation to do so, even if it made her uncomfortable.

After a moment, Red nodded. "I can teach you."

"Yes!" Yang said, pumping her fist in victory. "Oh, Dad is gonna freak the first time I spar with him and put him in a hold."  
Red felt her heart crack. She hadn't thought of her father in a while, but now that Yang brought him up, she couldn't help but miss him.

Thankfully, before she could get lost in her thoughts for any longer, Weiss cleared her throat.

"Well, I think it's getting late, so we had best get started on our homework."

Yang groaned, but acquiesced. "Alright… Red, you need help with history?"

"I think we have that covered," Blake replied. "You need help with math?"

"Nah; Red helped me out yesterday night, and I think I've got it. Speaking of, how do you know all that, anyway?"

"Requirement of being a sniper," the wolf replied.

"No fooling? You must be a pretty good one, then."

Memories of one of her last assignments flowed through her head. In her mind's eye, she saw a bullet cut through the air, then bury itself in a man's chest a mile and a half out before exploding in a small shower of gore.

Back in the real world, Red nodded softly. "...I'm okay at it."

"You'll have to show me one day. Maybe we can head over to the cliffs and watch you plug some Grimm from a mile out."

"...It's not something I really like to do."

"Oh." Yang paused. "Sorry."

Red shook her head. "Don't be. You did nothing wrong."

"Even still-"

"Yang," the wolf interrupted. "It's fine."

The blonde still looked uncomfortable, but reluctantly held herself back from saying anything further. Sensing the awkward silence, Weiss interrupted.

"So, when did you all want to start studying for that test in Oobleck's class next week?"

The conversation was quick to shift to something else, but Red remained distracted. She didn't like having to stay untruthful to her team, especially when they had been nothing but honest with her so far, but it wasn't as if there were any other options.

She was just going to have to get used to it; she had three more years of this, after all.

Red went to leave the arena along with her team, only to pause and hang back when something caught her eye. Bending down to get a better look, she found one of the rose petals left behind from when she used her semblance… but there was something strange about it. For years, the petals had been pitch black, with the only time they had ever been red having been the first few years of knowing her semblance. Past that point, they had started to steadily darken, eventually turning completely black.

Why, then, did this one petal look closer to a deep crimson than jet black? She honestly didn't know, but whatever the reason, so long as it didn't affect her semblance's actual utility, it was of no concern to her.

Shrugging, she let the petal drop to the floor, then continued on her way.

* * *

That weekend, Yang talked them all into a trip to Vale. It was a team trip, so just the four of them – Yang had wanted to make sure that Red and Weiss were okay to get along without anyone else around to serve as a buffer, and the two had agreed to give it a shot. They didn't have much of a plan for what to do, so they resorted to simply wandering around.

Unfortunately, they couldn't visit Tukson with Weiss in tow, so that left them limited mainly to downtown. After a few hours of wandering, they came across a Dust shop, one that Red recognized all too well. She was prepared to keep walking, but to her chagrin, Weiss stopped and stared into the front window.

"Oh, they have Dust chemistry sets for sale," she observed.

"That a big deal?" Yang asked.

"Not really, but I have been meaning to practice making my own Dust mixtures. Professor Peach will teach us next year, but I already know how thanks to being the heiress to the SDC. I'd like to keep my skills sharp in preparation for it, though."

"Trying to get a head start, eh?"

"Oh, hush; I just want to take a look around."

Her, Yang, and Blake approached the store, nearly reaching the front door when they all paused and turned around. Finding Red standing there staring at them, they all exchanged a glance with each other.

"You coming?" Yang asked.

"...You three go on ahead," Red replied. "I'll wait here."

"Why?" Weiss asked. "Don't be silly. We'll only be a second."

The wolf shook her head. "...I really think I should stay here."

The three of them exchanged another glance. "Okay, what's going on?" Yang asked. "There a reason you don't want to come inside with us?"

Realization crossed Blake's face, though it quickly gave way to rage. "You've been here before, haven't you?"

Hesitantly, Red nodded. Blake sighed angrily, then stepped away from the store. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Sorry Weiss, but there's no way I'm supporting these guys."

"...Clearly, I'm missing something here," the heiress said carefully. "Can you explain, please?"

Blake scoffed. "This is one of those stores that refuses to serve Faunus customers."

Weiss blinked, surprised. "...People actually do that outside of Atlas?"

"Yes, Weiss. Yes, they do."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Why deny a paying customer like that?"

"Welcome to the dark side of humanity, I suppose," Yang observed. "Anyway, if that's the case, I'm out. Sorry, Weiss."

"Oh, don't apologize for that – if that's true, then they don't deserve your support." She scowled. "Of all the simple-minded, idiotic business practices I've encountered, that has to be one of the dumbest."

She took a step away from the store. A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she turned back towards it. Her eyes narrowed.

"Actually, excuse me for a second," she said.

Then, to the surprise of her teammates, she entered the store and approached the counter. The three of them exchanged a glance, then drew closer in order to observe.

Upon seeing her approach, the cashier perked up. "Excuse me, ma'am, but would you happen to be Weiss Schnee?"

Weiss put on a smile that was far too wide to be genuine. "Indeed, I am."

"Oh, fantastic! How could I help you?"

"Hmmm..." Weiss thought for a bit. "Well, a good place to start would be letting my friends inside."

She motioned towards the window, where the three of them were looking in. The shopkeeper followed her gesture, pausing when he locked eyes with Red. Slowly, he began to frown.

"...Well, I can let two of them in, but the Faunus-"

"Ah, that's all I needed to hear," she replied, her friendly tone and expression quickly faded. "Be honest with me: what kind of operation are you running here?"

He flinched, taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"I'll excuse you when you stop running your business like an idiot. Where do you get off denying service to such a large portion of the population?"

"Nothing I do here is illegal, miss."

"No, it's just really stupid. You're willingly turning away paying customers."

"Because of the White Fang! I don't want my store to be robbed!"

"Yes, and I'm sure angering every Faunus in Vale with your short-sighted racism is going to make them less likely to rob your store," the heiress pointed out. "Honestly, this is just amateur hour at this point. Someone like you shouldn't be allowed to run a lemonade stand, let alone a business such as this."

He crossed his arms. "If you don't like it, then you're free to leave."

"Oh, I intend to. Perhaps on my way out I'll call my father and tell him about the Dust shop that kicked me out as well."

The man's eyes widened. "W-wait-"

"No, I don't think I will." Weiss examined the nails on her right hand. "There's not much to be afraid of, I assure you – the worst thing he'll do is get offended on my behalf and decide to stop supplying you with Dust, but since you're so keen on doing that to other people, I'm sure you won't be bothered by the fact that someone is holding you to your own standards for once."

"T-that's different-"

"Is it really? You're denying people business based on a ridiculous reason, and now I'm doing the same to you." Weiss sighed, clearly tired of playing this game, then pulled her scroll out of her pocket. "Whatever. We'll see what my father has to say."

"You can't do this! This has to be illegal!"

"Perhaps. Are you prepared to fight against my father's lawyers over it, though? Sure, you could have a case, but given that you're turning away such a large chunk of business, I doubt you could afford even a fraction of the legal fees you would incur over the course of litigation." Again, her eyes narrowed. "Is this really a game you want to play?"

Finally, the man slumped against the counter. "...Please, just go," he begged.

Weiss looked at him, then rolled her eyes and put her scroll away. "Fine. But only because you asked so nicely, and because you're starting to bore me. Have a good day, sir."

With that, the heiress turned on her heel, flipped her ponytail, and walked out of the store, closing the door behind her. All of her teammates stared at her in shock as she did so.

"Yes?" she asked.

"...Okay, that was awesome," Yang said. "You tore that guy a new asshole without even trying."

Weiss grimaced. "Perhaps, though I wouldn't use such vulgar language to describe it."

"Maybe, but it's a perfect description," Blake replied. "I don't mean to come off as insulting, but I never thought I'd see the day where a Schnee stood up for a Faunus."

"Neither did I, if I'm being honest. But it's like Oobleck said – familiarity breeds understanding."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you're definitely not your father, Weiss."

"That's-" Weiss paused. "...That's actually one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you, Blake."

"Awww!" Yang cooed. "That's so sweet~ You two really _do _love each other!"

Both of them scowled, then crossed their arms. "...We will continue to tolerate each other," Weiss said, to which Blake nodded.

Red couldn't help but feel as though there was a 'for now' that had been purposely left out of that statement, though she refrained from commenting about it.

"...Weiss," she said, getting the heiress' attention. "...Thank you."

Weiss blinked. "Please, don't thank me – that man needed to be taught a lesson, even if I never intended to actually call my father. If it wasn't me, then it would just have been someone else."

"Like who?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang, for one."

Blake scowled, but didn't comment. Red could tell that she was biting her tongue to keep from saying anything.

"Well, I don't know about any of you, but I'm starving," Yang announced. "Who's up for some grub?"

Blake relaxed. "...Food sounds good. I know a great sushi place-"

"Yeah, lemme just stop you there – I'm gonna need something a bit more filling than that."

"Oh? And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Steak house!"

"Weren't you making a big deal about eating clean not too long ago?" Weiss asked.

"Steak _is _eating clean – it's nothing but protein! Then you've got your potatoes for carbs, your carrots, your green beans… it's the perfect meal!" In a smaller voice, she added, "So long as you don't mind all the saturated fat..."

"Why don't we let Red pick?" Blake said. "She's the team leader, after all."

They all turned to her expectantly, and she shook her head. "...Never really ate at restaurants," she admitted.

They all exchanged a glance. "Okay, what were you eating before you came to Beacon?" Weiss asked.

"Game I hunted, plants I gathered, and surplus military rations."

Yang paused. "...Okay, unless anyone wants to take a trip outside of town so Red can chase down a deer, I think we're at an impasse."

"And how do you suggest we solve this problem?" Weiss asked, one eyebrow raised.

Yang simply smirked in response.

* * *

"That's the last time I challenge Blake to a game of rock-paper-scissors..." Yang grumbled. "I ate thirty lien worth of raw fish and still don't feel like I got my money's worth..."

"I'm quite satisfied," Blake said smugly.

"Laugh it up all you want, but one day I'll have my revenge, and it will be delicious."

The four of them rounded a corner, Red having to swerve to avoid an orange-haired girl in the process. She was only half-listening to Blake and Yang's conversation; she was too intent on making sure that they weren't being watched by the White Fang. The fact that they would be looking for her was bad enough, but with Weiss here with her and without support from JNPR and CFVY, things were suddenly much more dangerous.

She was so intent on scanning for threats that she almost didn't notice when the same orange-haired girl from earlier suddenly ran in front of them, blocking their path with a huge smile on her face.

The four of them stopped, staring at her. Yang quirked an eyebrow. "Can we help you?"

The girl nodded vigorously, then looked over at Red. "I just wanted to know if we've met before. You seem really familiar."

Red honestly had no idea. Normally, a statement such as that would have brought up fears that she had just run into someone who recognized her from an old assignment, but this girl's appearance was so striking that there was no way wouldn't have immediately remembered running into her.

Shaking her head, Red replied, "I think you have me confused for someone else."

The girl squinted and leaned in, then shook her head. "No, I don't think I do. You're definitely familiar."

Weiss, seeing how uncomfortable this conversation was making her team leader, stepped in. "Yes, well, we simply must be going – lots of places to go, you see. I apologize for none of us being of any help to you."

"You're leaving?" the girl asked. Suddenly, she brightened up. "Oh, but you four are all Huntresses-in-training, right?"

They exchanged a glance. "Uh, yeah," Yang said.

"Sensational! I am also a Huntress-in-training. I will be partaking in the Vytal Festival this year. Perhaps we will see each other there." She gasped. "Oh, or maybe we'll see each other at Beacon! That would be fun – we could hang out and do all sorts of fun activities together!"

Again, Team RWBY exchanged a glance. "Uh, sure," Yang said hesitantly, to which Blake and Weiss sighed heavily. The blonde gave them a sheepish look, but said nothing else.

"Anyway, we must be going," Weiss said. "It was nice to meet you."

"And you as well," the girl replied. "Oh, and my name is Penny, by the way."

"Yes, well… goodbye, Penny. I suppose we will see you around."

Penny nodded, her wide smile still plastered across her face. "Yes, that would be nice. Goodbye, new friends!"

And with that, she took off, leaving the four of them there, confused. Slowly, Blake turned to Red.

"You really didn't know her?" the ravenette asked.

"Never seen her before in my life," Red replied.

It was the first honest thing she had said to her team in a very long time.

* * *

Pushing their odd encounter with Penny aside, the four continued to wander through Vale. They really didn't have any destination in mind – it was more an excuse to simply check out stores they had never been to, as well as spend time together and chat. Red might have found it relaxing if it weren't for the shadow of the White Fang hanging over her and Weiss' heads. As it was, she couldn't afford to drop her guard for a moment.

At the very least, all four of them had elected to bring their weapons along with them. She, naturally, had refused to leave Beacon without hers, and Weiss similarly did not want to walk around unarmed when she had been targeted for assassination in the past. Blake insisting on carrying her weapon had been a surprise, however. Yang, meanwhile, had been perfectly fine with leaving her gauntlets in the dorm, but upon seeing that the others were bringing their weapons, had shrugged and put them on instead, not wanting to be the odd one out.

It was close to sundown when Red realized that her fears had been correct.

At first, she hadn't noticed them – they had blended in with the usual crowd of people that permeated the big city. It was only thanks to her enhanced Faunus hearing that she was able to make out the persistent footsteps of two men a few meters behind her. Upon first becoming suspicious, she had given them a minute to break off and go somewhere else; their refusal to do so was all she needed to tell that they were following her.

Pulling out her scroll, Red typed a message and sent it to her teammates.

_R: We are being followed. Don't look behind you._

The three of them checked their scrolls, then looked at her with concerned expressions. Red showed no reaction, instead typing something else.

_R: Follow my lead. Let me handle it._

Stepping in front of her teammates, Red looked around for somewhere off the beaten path they could go to get the civilians out of harm's way. Spying an alley, she ducked into it, followed by her team. The four of them moved all the way to the end before turning around. Upon doing so, Red saw them.

Two men, both wearing long pants and thick coats with their hoods up. Each one had a hand in their coat pocket. Her eyes narrowed, and her hand drifted to her pistol.

"You've been following us," she accused.

One of the men chuckled. "Aye, we have."

"What do you want?"

"That's a good question, girl." He gestured towards Weiss. "Let's start with the pretty piece of jewelry around that one's neck."

Weiss went to take a step forward, but Red held her back. The wolf stared the two men down, daring them to make a move. Both of them scowled.

"You think this is a game, kid?" one of them said, stepping towards her. "I don't think you get how this works." He went to pull something out of his pocket.

Red was faster.

In the blink of an eye, she ripped her handgun from its holster, firing off a single round into each man's chest. They both recoiled from the shot, and she followed up with another shot to the chest on both, followed by a shot to the head. The two men collapsed, unconscious, their hands slipping from their pockets and their concealed pistols clattering to the ground.

Outside the alley, the civilians seemed to have taken notice of the gunfire, if the sudden screaming and panicking was any indication. Red paid them no attention, instead darting forward and securing the discarded pistols before unloading and dismantling them both, then turning back to her teammates.

"Everyone okay?"

They all nodded. "How'd you know?" Yang asked.

"Heard them following us. Wasn't sure what they wanted; figured this would provide a good chance to learn."

"You weren't sure if it was a robbery or not?" Blake asked. "What did you expect?"

"...I don't know," Red admitted.

She said nothing further, and was thankful that nobody cared to ask any other questions. Instead, Weiss stepped forwards.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what? You four could have dealt with them."

"I know, but still. Thank you."

Her answer was confusing, but Red nodded all the same.

Two people suddenly stepped into the alleyway; squinting, Red could see that they were police officers with their guns drawn. Without missing a beat, she raised her hands in surrender and motioned for her teammates to do the same, which they did.

As the officers got closer, they relaxed slightly upon seeing that they were dealing with four teenagers, but didn't lower their weapons.

"Nobody move," one of them said. "What happened here?"

Weiss motioned towards the would-be muggers with her head. "Those two men tried to threaten us with guns and rob us, and my friend stopped them."

Both officers looked down, one of them gesturing towards the dismantled guns on the ground. "Those are theirs?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes, officers. You'll notice that the four of us have our own weapons on us – we're Huntresses-in-training, from Beacon."

"And I suppose that all four of you will tell me the same thing?"

Red, Blake, and Yang nodded. At that, the cops relaxed, finally putting their guns away.

"Alright, then. Everything seems in order, but we'll need statements from all of you. Which one of you was the one that stopped them?"

"I was," Red replied instantly.

"Okay, I'll need-" the officer paused. He blinked, then leaned in to get a better look at her. "Hey, I remember you; you're the one from the Dust shop a few months ago."

"Dust shop?" Blake asked.

"Yeah. Bunch of guys tried robbing the Dust shop she was in. She took all of them down."

"You never told us that," Yang pointed out.

Red swallowed nervously. "...It didn't seem important at the time."

The other cop scowled. "In any case, you seem to have a knack for attracting trouble. I'm not gonna blame you for anything 'til I've got the whole story, but in the future, try not to turn the city into a war zone – you damn near caused a riot out there when you fired off those shots."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. Now, if you'll excuse me."

With that, he turned towards the unconscious men and bound their hands behind their backs with zip ties, all while his partner kept an eye on the four of them, Red in particular.

A few minutes later and the cavalry arrived in the form of several other squad cars. Soon enough, the four of them were having their statements taken by a detective. He had treated them all incredulously at first, but once it became clear that their statements matched, he was much more willing to hear them out. In the end, with no reason to hold them, he let them all go and took the two muggers into custody.

Team RWBY watched as the men were loaded into a waiting squad car, which then took off along with all the other police cruisers. Now alone, the three of them turned towards their team leader.

"Well, I think that was enough excitement for one day," Weiss said. "We should probably take that as our sign to head back to Beacon."

"Agreed," Yang replied. "Besides, it's getting late. Still, we should all do this again sometime, though I want dibs on the next set of bad guys we come across."

"Assuming we come across any," Blake interjected.

"You kidding? We seem to have a knack for attracting all kinds of trouble. We stay out here any longer and we'll probably come across a bank robbery in progress or something."

"All the more reason to head back to school," Weiss said. "Right, Red?"

The wolf nodded. She was too busy counting her blessings at the fact that those cops hadn't elaborated on what had happened at the Dust shop to think of a better response than that. If they had explained what she had done during that robbery, there was no telling how her team might react.

Thankfully, she had dodged that bullet.

* * *

It was late by the time the four of them made it back to Beacon. Thankfully, it was a Saturday, so they still had plenty of time to accomplish whatever they needed to do. For Red and Blake, that meant training a bit and working out.

For Weiss and Yang, that meant singing practice.

"Okay, now remember what I told you last time," Weiss stated.

Yang nodded. "Stand up straight, project from the stomach, and sing loud."

"Correct. Okay, give me a basic major scale."

Again, Yang nodded, then started running through her scale. She only got to the third note before Weiss waved her off, stopping her.

"That was a minor third," the heiress reported. "Major scales have a major third."

The blonde grimaced. "Right. I'll try again."

She cleared her throat, then set about singing once more. This time, she got to the fifth note before messing it up. Weiss actually winced at her attempt.

"Damn..." Yang muttered. "Don't tell me: diminished fifth, right?"

"Correct. And major scales have a-"

"Perfect fifth. Right." She sighed. "Sorry; my mind's just not in the right place for this."

Weiss frowned. "Talk to me, then."

"It's nothing big, I'm just curious about something those cops said earlier."

"About Red?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah. They made it sound like she's run into trouble before."

"Well, she seemed to be fine."

"I know, but you know how she is – she doesn't exactly wear her heart on her sleeve."

"Then, what are you worried about?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know, Weiss. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I can't help but feel like it's something that might be worth looking into. I mean, we don't really know much about her, and if she's not talking about it, then..."

Weiss nodded softly. "I understand. Then, did you want to put singing practice on hold in favor of looking into it?"

"I think that would be best. It'll probably be nothing, but I want to make sure it isn't anything bad."

"Makes sense. Okay, let's do it."

With that, the two took a seat inside the study room they were occupying and began to look for any information they could give up. From what they knew, it involved a Dust shop robbery of some kind, so that was where they started. Narrowing it down to only those robberies that had occurred since Red said she had arrived in Vale made it much easier to search through, and soon enough, they were on their way.

"Find anything?" Weiss asked after several minutes.

Yang shook her head. "Nothing yet. So far, all the robberies I'm seeing went off without a hitch."

"Same." Weiss huffed. "Apparently, it's a mix of both the White Fang and Roman Torchwick committing them. Degenerates, all of them."

Yang frowned, but didn't get the chance to reply before she paused, eyes widening as she stared at the screen. "Hold on, I think I found something – some shop that was nearly robbed, only for a bystander to step in."

She opened the news article, only to nearly drop her scroll in shock at what she found.

Weiss was at her side in an instant. "Yang? What's wrong?"

Wordlessly, the blonde turned her scroll around, showing Weiss what she was reading. A newspaper headline stared back at her.

_Multiple dead in attempted robbery._

Weiss shuddered involuntarily. "Yang, I'm not sure that's the one."

"Keep reading," the blonde pressed.

Reluctantly, the heiress did as she was asked. Briefly, her eyes scanned the page, looking for any clues. Slowly, her eyebrows started to raise.

"This doesn't mention her by name," Weiss pointed out. "Only that a Faunus bystander stepped in and prevented the shop from being robbed, killing all the robbers but one in the process."

"True..." Yang admitted. She sighed. "Okay, now the only question is if we bring this up to her or not."

"I don't know why you would. If she's responsible then it's probably not something she wants to remember, and if she isn't responsible then there's no reason to ask her about it."

"I know..." She sighed. "...But at the same time, I can't help but feel like maybe this is connected to the way she acts, you know? You've seen what she's like – the way she kind of spaces out and stares off at nothing, how she always seems sad whenever she wakes up… I mean, we've all been woken up in the middle of the night before because she shouts in her sleep or thrashes around."

"And you think that bringing this up to her will help her?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But it might help us isolate what's bothering her, and maybe then we can convince her to get some help for it."

"You're acting like this is all connected somehow," Weiss pointed out. "It's possible she's just stuck remembering her nightmare of a life up to this point, whether it's from her time on the streets or her time under her mentor. Or maybe she just has night terrors, and they aren't connected. We just don't know."

"That's right, we don't. That's why I think we should take advantage of anything that could help us out here. Don't you?"

Weiss stayed silent, her mouth tightening into a thin line. Finally, she sighed. "If you think that's what's best, then I'll support you."

Yang nodded. "Alright. Let's head back to the room and wait for them, then."

* * *

Red walked back to her dorm, careful not to go too fast so as not to leave Blake behind. Next to her, the ravenette panted, wincing with every step.

"Still not… used to leg day..." she managed to gasp out.

The Faunus felt the corners of her mouth quirk upwards a bit. Despite her misgivings, she had to admit that it was getting much easier to relax around her friends.

Funny how her plan to keep everyone at arm's length seemed to have disappeared completely the moment that Blake stepped into her life. It was wrong of her to continue this charade, she knew… but it felt so good actually being around people who cared about her for once that she just couldn't help herself.

It would cause nothing but pain later on, but for now, she was going to enjoy it as best as she could.

The two of them stopped in front of their dorm room. Red swiped her scroll over the e-reader and opened the door, only to pause when she looked inside the room. Weiss and Yang were both there, sitting on Yang's bed with uncertain expressions on their faces.

"Good, you're back," Yang said. "Mind if we talk for a bit?"

Frowning, Red shook her head. She stepped aside to let Blake in, then shut the door behind her before joining the ravenette on her bed, directly across from Yang and Weiss.

"What's this about?" Blake asked, having managed to catch her breath.

Yang and Weiss exchanged a glance, then Weiss started to speak. "We… read up on what those cops said earlier. About the Dust shop robberies."  
Alarm bells began to go off in Red's head. Instinctively, she shrank in on herself and hung her head low, anticipating that the three of them would lash out at her.

Next to her, Blake frowned. "What about them?"

Yang hesitated before answering uncertainly. "Well… the cops said that Red stopped a robbery, but we were only able to find one case where the robbers were interrupted."

"And?"

"Whoever did it killed four of them."

Blake paused, then looked over at Red in shock. "...Red, is that true?"

Red tensed, but otherwise remained frozen where she sat. This was it; they knew about it now. No sense denying it.

Slowly, she nodded.

Next to her, Blake shifted. Red braced herself for a strike, but one never came. Instead, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her close.

"It's alright," Blake said softly.

Shocked, Red cast a glance over at her other two teammates. Unbelievably, they were both looking at her with sympathy.

"Why...?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"Why what?" Blake questioned.

"How can you just… treat me like this after I've killed people? You should hate me..."

"Why would we?" Weiss asked. "It was self-defense, wasn't it?"

Not really… but they didn't need to know that. Shakily, Red nodded. "Y-yes..."

"Then I don't see what the problem is," Weiss replied. "Sure, you got a bit carried away, but they were robbing you, and you probably assumed the worst, just like you would if you were on the streets. You're the victim here. I don't think you did anything wrong."

That felt so wrong coming from Weiss. It felt even more wrong when Yang nodded in agreement.

Red suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Was this how they would react if she told them the truth about her past? ...Probably not, but the mere thought of them treating someone as disgusting as her with sympathy over something like that was enough to make her want to vomit.

Carefully, Red shook Blake's arm away. "...I wasn't sure how you'd react, so…"

"That's okay," Yang said. "We get it. Nobody holds it against you for not telling us."

"...Though, there is one thing I'm wondering," Weiss said. "Feel free to not answer, but..." She sighed. "...This wasn't the first time, was it?"

Everyone else looked at her in shock. Of all the questions, this wasn't one Red had thought of, nor was it one that she had an answer for. Did she admit it, or deny it? Did it really matter?

Sighing, she shook her head. "...No, this was the first."

At that, Weiss relaxed. "Oh, thank the gods. I was so worried..."

Weiss was worried about her – worried that she had killed too many people. It would have been funny if it wasn't so sickening. She was the last person who deserved any sympathy, and Weiss was the last person who should have wanted to give her any. Red wanted nothing more than to tell her that, but she knew she couldn't.

Yang exhaled slowly. "Red, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" the wolf asked.

"Because you seem kind of… not okay. You haven't for a long time. Like, as long as we've known you. Do you need to talk to someone about it?"

"I am."

"You are?" Yang asked, somewhat taken aback.

"Ozpin."

"Oh. That's good, then. And he's helping?"

In a way, he was. They had discussed lots of things, most of them fake. The Dust shop robbery had been among them, but unfortunately, that wasn't something that actually bothered her compared to the rest of what she had done, even if she let Ozpin think it was so that he could go on thinking he was helping her. It was a bad thing to do, she knew, but she wasn't about to let him dig too deep into her head.

She nodded. "He is."

Everyone relaxed at that. "Well, it's good that you're getting help if you need it," Weiss replied. "There's no shame in that."

Red nodded once more, then stood up. "I'm going to take a shower in the hall bathroom. Blake, you can use the one here."  
Nobody tried to argue. Red gathered up everything she would need for her shower and quickly left the room, making her way to the bathroom. She stepped into an empty shower stall, disrobed, and took a deep breath as she turned the handle.

Then she collapsed against the wall, feeling the hot water run down her back as the weight of her past sins settled onto her shoulders once more.

* * *

"Well done, Miss Canis. Please deposit your weapons in your locker and then have a seat."

Red nodded, then turned away from the dissipating corpses of the three Ursai she had killed and marched back to her locker, unloading her rifle and pistol as she did so. The wolf opened her locker, ignoring the small pile of papers that had accumulated on the bottom of it. Frowning slightly, she put her guns inside and shut the door, then sent her locker flying off back to the locker rooms with the press of a button and began walking back to her seat.

She was really going to have to clean her locker out at some point. Whoever was leaving her notes had apparently gotten fed up with the fact that they weren't getting any kind of response from her, and had started to leave multiple different letters at once. At this point, Red didn't even read them anymore; she knew what they would consist of, and she wasn't about to waste her time on something so asinine. Ozpin was aware of the fact that she was receiving them, and while he had promised to find and punish whoever was doing it, so far he had found nothing.

Ultimately, it was of little consequence to her. Compared to what she had gone through, harsh words meant nothing.

Settling back into her seat, Red tried not to focus too hard on Weiss or Yang. Their conversation about the Dust shop robbery over the weekend had rattled her more than she thought it would; once again, the feelings of guilt were so strong that it was difficult to even be around the two of them. Thankfully, they had seemed to understand when she had asked for some space for a bit, which helped. She was still spending a lot more time around them than she wanted to, but at least now she got a chance to recover from it for a little while every day.

It was almost like how things had been earlier in the year – her and Blake were once again spending a lot of time with Coco and her team, and Weiss and Yang were doing the same with Jaune and his team. The only difference was that there was zero animosity between any of them.

Yang nudged her on the shoulder with a smirk. "Good job out there."

Red nodded, then went back to watching the clock, counting down the moments until class let out. Finally, it did. The wolf rose from her seat, intent on heading to her next class, only for her scroll buzzing to catch her by surprise. Curious, she opened it to find she had a message from Ozpin.

_We may have caught the one leaving you notes in your locker. Needless to say, he will not be bothering you ever again._

She was tempted to send a message asking who it was, but refrained; having a name would mean nothing to her, and it wasn't like Ozpin would tell her anyway. Still, at least that was taken care of. Red let out a soft exhale, then pocketed her scroll and joined the rest of her team on their way to Oobleck's class.

She was unaware that across the room, a team of her fellow first-years had received their own messages on their scrolls. Slowly, three pairs of eyes focused on her, each one filled with hate. After a minute, their leader smirked, motioning towards her with his head.

"Guess we'll have to pick up the slack, then," he said, earning a round of chuckles from all but one of his team.

* * *

Red's brow furrowed as she looked down at the paper in front of her. Dismayed, she started to turn towards the clock, only to remind herself that it wouldn't do any good – this time, she had a test to finish rather than a class to get through. Sighing, she turned back towards her paper and tried her best to focus.

_What did General Lagune's elite swordsmen refer to themselves as?  
_

This was one that she remembered going over with her team in their study sessions, but the answer eluded her. She remembered the characteristics of the swordsmen – namely, their tendency to move on horseback and later dismount to fight on foot, as well as their sidearm of choice being a large-bore handgun – but the name of the company refused to make itself known.

Not helping things was the fact that she was lost in her own thoughts once more. Weiss had taken a seat next to her this time, which made focusing hard. Try as she might, Red found it impossible to focus on her test instead of the past she shared with her teammate.

She tried to shake the thoughts from her head, but they refused to leave. Instead, it seemed to only make things worse – suddenly, her nose was filled with the scent of freshly-spilled blood. Looking around, Red was unable to find anything in the room that might have caused such a scent. In a panic, she tried to do anything she could to keep the intrusive thoughts from encroaching any further, finally resorting to closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths to try and calm herself.

When she opened them, it was to a bloodbath.

All around her, the room was filled with mutilated corpses. There wasn't a single student that had been spared. Looking down, she found herself covered in blood, and her scythe lying across her desk. JNPR sat in front of her, their bodies barely recognizable. Next to them was Velvet, her top half lying several feet away from her legs.

Her heart hammering in her chest, Red slowly turned to her side in a daze. She knew what awaited her there.

That didn't make actually seeing it any easier.

First there was Weiss. Her head was angled back, her eyes staring lifelessly up at the ceiling. The heiress' throat had been cut from ear to ear, deeply enough that her spine was visible through it.

Next to her was Blake. The ravenette had taken a large-caliber round to the chest. It had come out her back, taking along a good portion of her innards, which had been liquefied by the hydrostatic shock of the round on its way out and were now staining the row of desks behind her.

Finally, there was Yang. The blonde had gotten the worst of it. With Weiss and Blake, death had been quick – Blake had almost certainly been killed instantly, and while Weiss had suffered for a few seconds, the blood loss from her wound would have rendered her unconscious very quickly. Yang, on the other hand…

The blonde's torso had been dissected, her stomach having been cut open and several of her organs removed and placed onto her desk in front of her. Death had almost certainly been neither quick nor painless – from the way her body was arranged, it was clear that she had struggled until her last breath, first to fight off her attacker and then to simply try and stay alive. Tears dripped down her face, no doubt as much due to pain as they were due to fear.

Staring at her, Red felt herself break. She buried her head in her hands, trying her best to block out the images she was seeing and return to Oobleck's classroom, the whole time whispering to herself that it wasn't real.

"Miss Canis?"

She heard the voice and raised her head, hoping that she had succeeded in snapping herself back to the real world, only for her heart to plummet when she found that she hadn't. Instead, she was face-to-face with Doctor Oobleck, who by the looks of things should have been very dead – he had been shot in his right eye, the bullet exploding out the back of his head. Gray matter leaked from the open wound in his skull with every passing moment. His skin was pallid and cold, a clear sign that he had been dead for a while.

He leaned in, concern on what remained on his face. At this close a proximity, Red could smell the rot on his body. "Miss Canis, are you all right?"

It had already been too much, but seeing a talking corpse sent her over the edge. She leaned to her side and vomited, expelling her breakfast onto the floor next to her desk.

"Miss Canis!"

Doctor Oobleck reached out for her, and Red was quick to scramble away. "No! G-get away!"

"Miss Canis, what are you doing? I am trying to help you!"

Someone grabbed her shoulder from behind, and she wasted no time in countering, taking hold of their arm and throwing them over her shoulder onto her desk, which snapped in half as they landed. To her shock, she found Yang's corpse lying there, a pained expression on the blonde's face.

She blinked, and suddenly the world was back to normal. There was no blood, no bodies, no stench… nothing but a grimacing Yang and a concerned-looking Oobleck.

"What is the meaning of this?" Doctor Oobleck asked. "Miss Canis, are you feeling okay?"

Frantically, Red shook her head, doing her best to swallow the last bit of bile still in her mouth. Fast as lightning, Doctor Oobleck pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and scribbled something on it, then handed it to her.

"Take that to the hospital wing and have them take a look at you. You may take your test in my office tomorrow after classes are done for the day."

The wolf nodded, then turned and began to walk away as fast as her legs could take her. She paid no mind to the other students as she did so – some were gazing at her with concern, while others were doing so with barely-disguised smiles on their faces, clearly amused by her torment. In either case, she didn't care.

So long as she got out of that room and away from her team, what others thought didn't matter.

* * *

Weiss watched her team leader go, pausing only to offer Yang a hand and pull her up from her spot on the floor. The blonde gave her an appreciative nod, but otherwise said nothing. Weiss understood – like her, she was too concerned about their team leader to say anything.

After a moment, Weiss became aware of how the rest of the class was reacting. Some were concerned, some were laughing… the latter made her scoff. How anyone could find humor in someone else's suffering like that, she had no idea.

Looking to her left, Weiss was struck by an odd sight. For some reason, Cardin and his team had chosen to sit there instead of in their usual spot close to the exit. That was strange, because CRDL had monopolized that spot since the start of the year. It was almost too good a coincidence – CRDL just so happen to change spots to sit closer to Red on the exact same day that Red freaks out for some reason when she had normally been so level-headed. Come to think of it, Cardin's opponent during his first day of sparring had also completely lost it for almost no reason, even having a reaction that was very similar to Red's…

Weiss stared at Cardin and his team. Three of them were chuckling, as if it were all a big joke to them. Cardin turned towards her, and the two of them locked eyes. Slowly, her eyes narrowed.

She had a pretty good idea about what had just happened. And after class, so would Professor Goodwitch.

* * *

Stepping out into the hall, Weiss let out a small sigh. It had been a few days since she had gone to Professor Goodwitch, and things had mostly quieted down, though not in a good way – whatever Red had seen, it had left her incredibly despondent, to the point where she refused to even spend time with Blake. Currently, the wolf was off in her meeting with Ozpin, while Blake had elected to go read somewhere on her own. Weiss felt bad for both of them, but there was little she could do about it. Instead, she tried to remain focused on keeping things as normal as possible. To that end, she had stopped by her dorm room to gather some things for her study session with Yang and Team JNPR in a bit.

Turning the corner, she was surprised to find four upperclassmen standing in front of her dorm. She wasn't sure what they wanted, but it couldn't have been anything good. She turned on her heel, intent on simply walking away.

Unfortunately, they had already seen her.

"Hey, wait up!"

She didn't. Instead, she increased her pace. Sending up a quick thanks to Red for helping her pick out different footwear, Weiss tore through the first-year building, the whole time aware of the sound of footsteps behind her. Without looking, she set a few glyphs down as she went; despite the fact that she was trying to get away, she couldn't help but smirk at the sound of two people getting tripped by them and crashing to the ground.

Eventually, though, her luck ran out. Someone caught her, shoving her against the wall with a grunt and then holding her in place with their arm around her neck. Now turned around, Weiss could see that it was their team leader.

The white-haired boy frowned. "Thought you could get away from us, huh?"

"What do you want?" Weiss asked.

His gaze narrowed. "You ratted on Cardin's team."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb, bitch. Cardin said that you were the only one who noticed his team at that time. If it wasn't you, then who?"

"How should I know?"

He snarled at her. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?"

The rest of his teammates joined him, leering over her menacingly. Weiss glared at each of them in turn.

"You realize that if you lay a finger on me, my father will make you all pay, right?"

"I think we're willing to take that chance, given what you just did."

"Seriously? Just how stupid are you people?"

Unfortunately, it seemed like her statement was going to fall of deaf ears. One of them took a step forward, but stopped when his team leader gave him a harsh glare. Reluctantly, he stepped back. His team leader then turned to the other two.

"You two, get her arms and legs. I'll cover her mouth."

Weiss had no time to protest before he tightly clamped a hand over her mouth, silencing her. She tried to scream, to bite at his fingers, to throw down some glyphs, but to no avail. The four of them carried her off, traveling for several minutes until they stopped at a vacant dorm room and dumped her inside, then retreated outside and slammed the door shut behind her.

Inside the room, much to Weiss' displeasure, was Cardin and two other members of his team.

Cardin nodded towards her. "Well, if it isn't Queen Bitch herself."

"Cardin," Weiss spat. "I take it this was all your plan?"

"No, actually. Those four outside came up with it and I decided that it would be a good way to get revenge."

"Makes sense – this took a bit too much planning to be one of your plans."

Rather than get angry, Cardin merely shrugged. "Laugh all you want. We'll get our revenge in a bit."

"Oh, yeah? And what makes you think you'll live to tell about it if my team finds out?"

"Why would I be worried about your team? In case you haven't noticed, we've got a bunch of third-years watching our backs."

"Third-years who Red has already beaten. Or did they not tell you that part?"

They chuckled at that. "Yeah, right. Like we'll believe that," Sky said.

Cardin held up a hand, silencing them. "Anyway, I figured that there'd be no better way to get even than to do to you what we did to Red."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Like you don't know. Or do you honestly mean to tell me that Goodwitch didn't tell you all about my semblance when you ratted on us?"

He was right about that, at least. According to Goodwitch, Cardin's semblance was that he could create illusions localized to one person. Essentially, he chose a target, chose an emotion, and the target experienced hallucinations related to that emotion. It was a powerful tool, both against the Grimm and human opponents he fought, and it was one that he had already gotten in trouble for misusing in combat school – apparently, Goodwitch and Ozpin had actually had a meeting with him telling him that misusing it in the same way at Beacon would be met with severe consequences.

Unfortunately, they apparently weren't severe enough if he was willing to use it again so soon after being caught.

Weiss put a hand on her hip. "You're all stupid," she said matter-of-factly. "If you honestly think you won't get caught and punished even worse for this, you're out of your mind."

"You think I care?" Cardin announced. "You're defending your bitch of a team leader. My uncle was murdered in cold blood by some animal just like her. He was defending you, and he died for it. Now you have the gall to sit there and protect her and others like her? With your connections, you could easily run them all out of Beacon and get off free for it."

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard all day," Weiss announced tiredly. She turned towards the window. "Stand aside. I'm leaving before you all do something you'll regret."

"No, you're not." Cardin turned to his team. "Get her."

Weiss had no time to do more than throw down a single glyph before two of them were upon her. In seconds, they wrestled her to the ground, pinning her arms and legs down while Cardin advanced on her, a smirk on his face. Someone forced her to look towards him, prying her eyes open in the process. Cardin leaned towards her, sneering.

"You know, I often wonder about what my uncle saw just before he died," Cardin said. "I guess you don't have to wonder about that, do you?"

Immediately, Weiss stopped struggling, staring at Cardin with a pleading expression on her face. "P-please, no..." she begged.

Cardin laughed. "That bad, huh? Well, I guess we'll find out." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his scroll and aiming it at her. "And so will everyone else irritated at the fact that you're defending the animals."

"Cardin, please don't do this! I'm sorry!"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you ratted to Goodwitch. And I can promise you, there'll be more where this came from if you go to her again." He switched on his scroll's video camera, his smirk widening. "Time for the fun to start."

Weiss tried to look away, but it did no good. She felt a pressure in her head, as if someone were probing her mind. The air suddenly started to grow cold, and snow began to filter into the room from the crack beneath the door. It turned into a flurry, one which obscured her vision for a second. When it dissipated, she found herself back in Atlas, in the armored car straight out of her nightmares. The door was closed, but she could hear the sounds of battle and smell the blood even through it.

There was the sound of something cutting through flesh, followed by a sickening gurgle as someone choked on their own blood. Then, silence. Weiss frantically tried to shift over to the car door closest to her, but something held her in place, keeping her from escaping.

The door next to her was suddenly pierced by a large blade, then torn from its hinges and flung to the side. Weiss stared at her blood-soaked attacker, tears leaking from her eyes and a sob forcing its way out of her throat.

"It's just a dream..!" she frantically told herself. "It's not real; none of it is real!"

Her words did nothing to calm her pounding heart. Her attacker stared at her, unblinking, as blood dripped from her clothes and weapon and onto the snow below, each drop sounding like another gunshot over the eerie silence that had settled over them both.

Then she lunged forwards, and Weiss couldn't hold back her scream.

* * *

Red sighed as she stepped into her room and took a seat on her bed. It had been a long week, but thankfully it was now over. Now, it was time for her to relax for a bit. Looking over to her bedside table, she reached for _Sin and Sentence – _a deliberate choice on Tukson's part, one that she was quick to give him a piece of her mind about once she had started reading it, though at his insistence she had continued to try it. As uncomfortable as the subject material made her feel – it was about a man who committed a murder, and him being eaten alive by guilt – she had to admit that it was a good book, at least objectively. It might have been wrong to say she 'enjoyed' it, but she did at least want to see how it ended.

She had barely gotten a page in before her scroll rang. Checking the caller ID, she found that it was Yang. Exhaling, Red accepted the call.

"Yes, Yang?"

"_Have you seen Weiss anywhere?" _the blonde asked.

The wolf frowned. "No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

_"We were supposed to study with Jaune and his team, and she's late and not answering her scroll."_

Red's frown deepened. Weiss, late for something and refusing to pick up when Yang called? Something was definitely up.

"I'll go look for her."

_"Thanks. If you find her, tell her to get her skinny butt over to the library, we've been waiting for ten minutes."  
_

The ex-assassin nodded, then ended the call and rose from her spot on her bed, pausing to smooth out the wrinkles on her shirt as she did so – it was a nice blue one that Coco had bought for her, and she didn't want to mess it up.

Stepping out into the hallway, Red quickly realized that she had no idea where to start looking. Beacon was a big campus, and Weiss could be anywhere on it… or even in Vale, if she wanted; it was a Friday, so the Bullheads were all active for longer than usual. If that was the case, then finding Weiss was going to be a lot harder than she thought. Still, that would be a last resort; for now, it would probably be a good idea to search the building she was currently in.

For the next few minutes, Red wandered around, checking in every supply closet and knocking on every occupied dorm she could in order to try to find her teammate. Finding nothing, she continued on, deciding to check the vacant dorms just in case Weiss had decided that she needed some privacy for a conversation with her father or something.

Red rounded the corner and almost immediately found herself forced to duck back around it in order to avoid being spotted by an all-too-familiar group of third-years. Pressing herself against the wall, her brow furrowed. What were they doing in a first-year dorm? Tentatively, she peered back around the corner, trying to see what was up. From what she could tell, they seemed to be guarding the room, though she had no idea why.

She was about to turn and leave when she heard a muffled scream, one which made her pause in her tracks. She had heard a scream like that before, but where…? Slowly, it all came back to her.

She had heard the same scream two years ago.

With that, the pieces fell into place. Red felt her lips curl back into a snarl and her hands tighten into fists. She rounded the corner, no longer caring if she was spotted by them.

One of them nudged his teammate with his elbow, then pointed to her and called out to the other two. They all took up positions in front of the door, barring her from entering. Red glared at them all, weighing her options. They were unarmed, but so was she, her knife having long since ceased to occupy its spot on her shoulder.

But that didn't matter. For what she had planned, she didn't need her knife.

One of them – Colt, she recalled – motioned for the biggest member of his team to go after her. The boy took a step forward, cracking his knuckles as he did so. Red intercepted him by charging forward and burying her knee in his groin as hard as she could, then grabbing his head and slamming it into the wall, putting a hole through the plaster and leaving him stuck trying to pull himself out.

The others descended upon her, but she didn't care. She disappeared in a flurry of roses, reappearing behind Colt and aiming a series of jabs at the base of his skull. He recoiled from the hits, and she transitioned to a hook to his kidneys that knocked the wind out of him, followed by a leg sweep that left him sprawled out on the ground.

She found herself forced to dodge a wild haymaker from one of the two uninjured teammates, which she did by twisting to the outside and grabbing the boy's outstretched hand to keep him from escaping, then delivering several semblance-enhanced jabs to his liver, followed by a swift series of punches to his eyes.

The other one approached her just before she finished breaking her prior opponent's aura, forcing her to disengage. At that moment, Colt picked himself up off the floor, and together the two rushed her. Again, she disappeared in a cloud of petals, reappearing behind Colt and locking her arm around his neck before pulling him backwards, burying her knee into the base of his spine. Before he could recover she grabbed his head with both hands and twisted, dealing with what was left of his aura. He struggled in her grasp, but a series of hits to his solar plexus left him gasping for air. He reached back, trying to stop her, and she wasted no time in pulling his arm straight back, then slamming her shoulder into it. A loud crack filled the air, followed by a cry of pain as she let him go and he tumbled to the ground, clutching his arm.

His teammate rounded on her, trying to lash out with another jab. She dodged it, aiming a retaliatory strike at his Adam's apple. His aura broke, but Red wasn't done with him. As he tried to recover, she swept his legs out from beneath him, then as he was falling, stomped on his collarbone as hard she could, breaking it.

The other two advanced upon her cautiously, having recovered in the time it took her to deal with their teammates. Red didn't wait for either of them to make a move, instead rushing towards the one she had slammed into the wall and aiming a strike towards his eyes. He raised both hands to block, and she simply brought her free hand around, aiming a series of punches to his stomach. When his aura broke, she made sure to add an extra semblance-enhanced punch to his core, one that brought him to his knees clutching his stomach as he vomited.

And then there was one. He took one look at the scene around him before deciding that he had better things to do, and tried to turn and run away. Red caught up to him in no time, tripping him before grabbing his leg and pulling it straight, then aiming a punch to the side of his knee. The joint gave way with a sickening crack, and the boy was left rolling on the ground and clutching at his broken leg. Red cast a disdainful look at the four of them before turning back towards the room they were guarding and charging into it shoulder-first, ripping it from its hinges.

What she found inside made her pause. Cardin was holding his scroll in his hand, recording Weiss as two members of his team held her down. The white-haired girl almost looked as if she was having a night terror; she was thrashing around wildly, with tears streaming down her face and the occasional scream or sob leaking from her mouth, muffled by a hand over her face.

That was enough for her. Cardin turned to her and said something, but Red never heard it.

She was too busy rushing forward and shoving him into the bed hard enough to break the frame into splinters.

Immediately, his team released Weiss and rushed towards her. Sky was the first to get there, swinging at her with a wild haymaker. Red dodged to the side almost absentmindedly, then grabbed his overextended hand and used it to spin him around then lock him in place, then punched him in the kidneys as hard as she could until she felt his aura break.

Then, for good measure, she did it some more, until he was crying out and begging her to stop. She obliged him by slamming him head-first into an undamaged bed, breaking the frame and knocking him out, a thin trail of blood leaking from his skull.

Russell came next. To his credit, he didn't try to run; instead, he tried to fight. Unfortunately for him, that was a bad idea; Red easily countered his wild strike with one of her own, then shoved him face-first through the glass window in the rear of the room. The window gave way, sending shards of broken glass spilling across the floor. Red pulled her target back into the room, then punched him until he was out cold and leaking blood everywhere before dumping him unceremoniously onto the ground.

Behind her, she heard someone slowly rising to their feet. Turning around, she found that it was Cardin. He was glaring at her with hatred etched across his face, and a shard of glass held tightly in his hand. He said something to her, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of the blood rushing in her ears. He charged her, wielding the glass like a makeshift knife; Red simply avoided his amateurish strike, then grabbed his arm, wrenched it to the side with one hand, and drove her fist into his elbow with the other.

Cardin let out a yell as his arm gave way, dropping the knife onto the ground. Red wasn't satisfied, though; from what she had seen, he had been the one to set this whole thing up, and she would make him pay. She turned him around so that she was facing him, and then she went to work, driving her fist over and over into his face. His nose broke, as did his right orbital bone; cuts opened across his face, pouring blood down it. With every punch, he spat out more broken teeth. The whole time, he begged her to stop. Red ignored it; she had heard it all before, from men who deserved to live much more than Cardin did, and it hadn't made a difference then.

Finally, she let Cardin go. The boy sank down to the ground, blood and tears pouring down his face. Red stared at him, expressionless. He was pathetic – all seven of them were. Yet, he had masterminded the torment of her teammate, her _friend, _someone who she cared a great deal about and who she had an obligation to protect, no matter what. Red didn't know why he had chosen to target Weiss, only that he had, and that he would likely try again unless she did something about it.

Her hand grasped for her shoulder, finding nothing there. It took a moment for her to remember why that was. When she did, she looked back over the room, looking for something to use. Finally, her gaze settled on the shard of glass Cardin had tried to attack her with. Without hesitation, she picked it up and advanced upon him. With her free hand, she grabbed Cardin's head, tilting it up to the side to expose his carotid artery. She brought the makeshift knife up, holding it over him for a second before bringing it back, and-

"Red, stop!"

Pausing. Slowly, her eyes widened. She cast a glance over her shoulder to find Weiss staring at her with wide, tear-filled eyes, fear etched across her face.

"Stop," Weiss pleaded. "Let him go."

Cardin grasped at her wrist, feebly trying to get her to drop her makeshift blade. He said something, but between the broken teeth, blood filling his mouth, and swollen face, it came out as little more than a gurgle. Red turned back to him, staring into his face. It looked more like hamburger meat than anything. Slowly, her grip around the shard of glass slackened, and finally it came clattering to the floor. She let Cardin go, dropping him next to the glass unceremoniously. Then, she turned back towards Weiss, reaching out a hand towards her.

The heiress flinched, recoiling away from her hand out of fear before Red could make contact. Red stared at her, shocked, before looking away, her ears flattening against her head. Slowly, she stood up, then looked around for Cardin's scroll. Finding it, she placed it in her pocket before standing and walking out of the room, not even sparing a glance back at the carnage she had left.

She walked in a daze, only partly aware of where she was going. Red didn't know how long it took, but eventually she found herself in front of Professor Goodwitch's office. Without hesitating, she pushed her way inside.

Glynda turned to her from behind her desk, looking at her in surprise. "Miss Canis, wha- is that blood?! What happened?!"

Red said nothing. Instead, she pulled out Cardin's scroll, placing it on the table and motioning for Glynda to look at it. The Huntress gave her a wary look, but relented, taking the scroll in her hands. As she watched, Red turned and walked away. This time, she knew exactly where she was going.

It felt odd to be in the elevator again so soon, but there was nowhere else for her at the moment.

The door opened, and Ozpin glanced over to her.

"Yes, Miss Canis?" Before she could reply, he cocked an eyebrow. "You have blood on you. Did something happen?"

Red nodded, then stepped forward and took a seat across from him. Behind her, she heard someone heading up in the elevator.

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

"...In a minute," she said, almost inaudible.

Moments later, the elevator doors opened behind her, followed by the sound of high heels clicking against the floor.

"Ozpin, we have a situation," she heard Glynda say.

The headmaster frowned, turning to Red. "I assume you are involved?"

She nodded. He let out a sigh, putting his mug down before turning to his second-in-command and nodding.

"What are we dealing with, Glynda?"

"Seven students on their way to the emergency room."

"Seven? Who are they?"

"Three members of Mister Winchester's team, as well as everyone on Mister Alabaster's team."

At that, Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "That's quite the age disparity between them. And their injuries?"

"Here is a list, from the medical team themselves."

Glynda handed Ozpin her scroll. The headmaster read over it, his eyes widening after just a few seconds. He turned to Red, his expression suddenly turning serious. "Explain, now. Leave nothing out."

"They were doing something to Weiss," Red said softly. "Cardin's team was holding her down while he filmed her. Colt's team was guarding the room they were in. I found out, and..."

"You lost control," Ozpin finished. "Do you know what they were doing to her?"

"No."

"I do," Glynda interjected. "According to Miss Schnee, it seems as though Cardin was using his semblance on her."

Ozpin exhaled. "...I see. They found out that she was the one who reported him to you for doing the same thing to Red, and together with Colt's team, they came up with this." He turned back to Red. "Do you have any idea why those two teams in particular would get together like this? Inter-year friendships aren't exactly uncommon, but ones between upperclassmen and first-years are."

Red shifted uncomfortably, somewhat unwilling to answer for fear of making things more complicated. Ultimately, she decided that she had nothing to lose.

"They're both part of a bigger group. There's a large contingent of people at Beacon dedicated to harassing the Faunus students. That's how they met."

Ozpin and Glynda exchanged a glance. "You're sure?" the headmaster asked.

The wolf nodded. "Colt told me himself."

Glynda scowled. "Well, it would certainly explain why everyone seems to be keeping the Faunus students at a distance. And here I thought we were making improvements in that department."

"We can look into that later, when the seven of them are healthy enough to be questioned about it," Ozpin said. "Miss Canis, I hope you understand that your actions will not be taken lightly. You may have been protecting your teammate, but what you did was unacceptable."

Red flinched, but said nothing, instead shrinking in on herself as the headmaster continued to speak.

"Given the circumstances I may have been inclined to look past the unsanctioned fighting, but your use of force was so excessive that there is no way that I can. On top of that, Mister Winchester is apparently claiming that you attempted to cut his throat with a shard of broken glass. However, Miss Schnee denies that such an event ever happened, and given that everyone else in the area was either unconscious or in too much pain to pay attention, I can't exactly confirm whether or not it actually happened."

Weiss had vouched for her? Red had thought that the heiress was afraid of her after what she had done. Still, the knowledge that Weiss hadn't thrown her to the wolves, while encouraging, did little to help her with her current predicament.

Ozpin sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I can see that we still have much to discuss together," he observed. "Starting now, we are to meet three times a week – on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as Fridays. You are not to approach Mister Winchester's team or Mister Alabaster's team. Until we have investigated and determined an appropriate punishment, you are not to leave campus, your weapons are to be locked up in my office unless they have been cleared for your own personal use, and you will not be participating in combat during Grimm Studies or Combat Class. Do you understand?"

Red nodded. "...And my punishment?"

"We will determine that once we have looked into this incident."

That wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted a concrete answer, one that more than anything, served as a suitable reply to the burning question in her mind.

"Are you going to kick me out?"

Again, Ozpin and Glynda exchanged a glance. Ozpin sighed. "That will depend entirely on what we find during our investigation. I cannot rule anything out yet, but I can tell you that based on everything we have found so far, expulsion seems highly unlikely."

That was slightly reassuring, but not by much. From the sound of things, it was still a possibility, however small.

"And Cardin and Colt?"

Glynda stepped in. "Mister Winchester was short-sighted enough to record himself and his team harassing Miss Schnee. Presumably, they planned to share it with their other friends in order to embarrass her. Unfortunately for them, it does nothing but make the case against them fairly simple."

"In addition, Mister Winchester was warned upon his acceptance into Beacon that there would be consequences if he misused his semblance," Ozpin added. "Rest assured, the punishment will fit the crime, not only for him but for the other six as well." The headmaster sighed. "Honestly, for something like this to happen at Beacon… it's outrageous. We lose too many bright young minds to the Grimm; we don't need to lose them to each other as well."

Ozpin reached for his mug of cocoa before turning back to her. "You may leave, for now. I will contact you when we have finished looking into this and determined an appropriate punishment for you. Glynda will stop by in the morning to collect your weapons. I would advise you to keep your head down and stay out of trouble, lest you make things worse for yourself."

Red nodded in understanding, then rose from her seat and left his office without saying a word. Ozpin had been much more lenient than she had been expecting, but this was only the first round. There was still plenty of time for him to make things worse for her. And even if he wasn't making things worse for her now, she could tell that the rest of the night was going to be anything but smooth sailing.

She still had her team to deal with.

* * *

They had all been waiting for her to come back, apparently. Stepping into the room, she found the three of them staring at her. They were all sitting on Blake's bed, with Weiss leaning against Yang, who had her in a one-armed hug. Red lowered her head, then took a seat across from them.

"Weiss told us what happened," Yang began, without missing a beat. "And honestly, I'm not sure how to feel."

"...You're not?" Red questioned.

"No, I'm not." The blonde sighed. "Those seven deserved to have their asses beat, but the way you did it…"

"You sent seven people to the emergency room, Red," Blake interjected. "Some of them have injuries they won't ever fully recover from. I understand that you were trying to help Weiss, but that was going too far."

"And then there's what you tried to do to Cardin," Yang added softly. At Red's shocked look, she added, "Yeah, Weiss told us about that. I don't know what you were thinking, but that shit is not okay. Why would you even try to do something like that?"

The worst part was that Yang didn't even sound angry. Red could deal with an angry Yang – she had dealt with an angry Almost for ten years, and that was far worse – but a sad Yang was something she didn't know what to do about. Her ears flattened against her skull, and she shrank in on herself.

"...I'm sorry," she muttered. "It's just… I've never had a friend before Beacon. You three, Jaune's team, and Coco's team are the most important people in the world to me. When I saw what they were doing to Weiss..."

"I see," Yang said. "But that doesn't make what you did okay. You went way too far, even before you tried to cut Cardin's throat."  
Red lowered her head once more. "...Do you all hate me?"

Instantly, Yang and Blake shook their heads. "Not at all," Blake replied.

"Not in a million years," Yang said.

Noticing Weiss was silent, the three turned to Weiss. She blinked, then looked down at the floor.

"...No, I don't," she admitted. "But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little afraid of you. This is going to sound weird, but when I saw you with that blade to Cardin's throat, all I could see was _her_."

She didn't need to say anything more than that; Red instantly understood. Not only did she understand, but she agreed. Weiss was absolutely dead-on with her assessment.

That was just who she was, then. She hadn't even been seeing things at the time; she had simply snapped and lost control, and before she knew what she was doing, she was in the process of killing someone.

What was she doing here? It was crazy to think that someone as dangerous as her, someone who for all intents and purposes was little more than a natural born killer, could walk among normal, good people like her friends. For the first time in a long time, Red Canis considered running away. That thought left as soon as it arrived, however.

She still had something to do that required her here.

A heavy silence settled over the room, one that lasted for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, Blake broke it.

"What did Ozpin say to you?"

Red looked up from the floor. "...They're going to investigate and determine a suitable punishment for me."

"Is there a chance that they try and expel you?"

"A small one. Ozpin said it was highly unlikely."

At that, the three of them relaxed, each of them breathing a sigh of relief.

"Whatever happens, we're with you," Yang promised.

They shouldn't be. She was the last person who deserved their support. If they knew who she really was, the thought of trying to stick by her side wouldn't have even crossed their minds. Whenever she entertained the thought of telling them the truth, the knowledge that they would instantly turn on her if they knew was enough to force her to bury it deep inside, and now was no different. But they didn't know that, and if Red had her way, they never would.

Red looked towards her sister, tried her best to put on a neutral face, and nodded softly in understanding, the whole time trying not to betray the fact that she felt nothing but contempt for herself.

* * *

**Man, this one was all over the place. But it covered a lot of ground, thankfully – there were quite a few things here I wanted to get out of the way, hence the fast pace. I kind of want to start this thing moving real fast, since we're getting to a series of pivotal moments for this fic. I estimate that we've got maybe one more chapter before things start to **_**really **_**pick up for a bit. No spoilers, but just looking at my outline, shit's gonna get intense. You'll know what I'm talking about.**

**Anyway, this chapter had it all – some action, some friendship moments, and Red going absolutely batshit. Here we go again with the lies – just keep throwing stuff onto the pile, my gurl, I'm sure it'll be absolutely fine.**

**Besides that, there were also some nice Weiss moments here – there's some of that character development you ordered, with a nice little bit of tension with Blake centered around the White Fang on the side. Oh, and Penny's there, too. Man, things are starting to look awfully familiar. Wonder what's gonna happen next…**

**Anyway, you can pretty much consider this the end to Red's bullying - nobody's going to want to mess with her after this, both because Ozpin's going to be cracking down hard on it and because they know she won't hesitate to go crazy on them. Unfortunately, there's such a thing as taking things too far, as she's finding out now - pretty much the textbook definition of excessive use of force. There's self-defense and defending someone else, but at some point it goes from 'justifiable and understandable' to 'pretty much just beating the hell out of a whole bunch of people, with a side of attempted murder'. Much as Cardin and co. deserved a beatdown, the line's gotta be drawn somewhere, and unfortunately for Red, she crossed it.**

**Anyway, I've got nothing else. See you all in two weeks, with what's hopefully the last real setup chapter before we kick things into overdrive for a bit. If my estimation is right then it'll be a bit on the shorter side, but it'll be important – lots of good shit will be happening in there, and it'll set the stage for some even better shit. Stay tuned, because it's about to get real spicy up in here.**

**Next update: Saturday, ****May 23.**


	14. Chapter 14

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 14

* * *

It took a few days, but Ozpin finally rendered judgment upon her. For the next two weeks, she was suspended. What that meant was that she would report to an empty classroom at the start of the day, then silently do her classwork by herself while a professor watched over her. She was not allowed to leave until the final class ended. Her scroll was confiscated, so she couldn't focus on anything besides working and studying. No matter what happened, she was not let out of the professor's sight – her breakfast and lunch were brought to her by another professor, and if she needed to use the restroom, the person watching over her followed her there. Even when the day had ended, she was supposed to have a faculty member escort her around campus, and she had a curfew to abide by as well.

It was dull, boring, and incredibly monotonous, but at the same time, it wasn't completely unappreciated. As menial as the whole thing felt, it at least kept her separated from the rest of the student body for most of the day, which was a good thing if what she had overheard between students in the hall was any indication.

In any case, she got off easy compared to Cardin and Colt's teams. Apparently, of the eight of them, seven had been expelled – it turned out that Colt and his team were responsible for bullying other Faunus students who had eventually reported them when Glynda started investigating, and Cardin's offense was deemed as being too egregious for any other punishment.

The sole exception was Dove, who for all intents and purposes had never taken part in his team's activities. Upon the rest of them getting expelled, he had requested a transfer to another school, figuring that he would be better off in a different academy; this had been granted, and from what she had heard, he was currently on his way to Shade, due to be the new addition to a team who had recently lost one of their members in a training accident.

The clock finally chimed, indicating that her day was over. Red exhaled through her nose, then gathered up her things and packed them away. She nodded to the professor, who rose from her seat and began the task of escorting her back to her room.

Passing through the halls, Red found herself followed by stares. Her ears flattened against her head she looked down at the floor to avoid making eye contact. She had tried acting as if she didn't care before, but that had done nothing to stop the things that were being said about her. Something told her that trying to appeal meek and harmless would have the same result, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

"Hey, check it out – it's that Faunus girl. Heard she sent a bunch of students to the hospital."

"Is that the girl who beat up a bunch of third-years?"

"Why's a psycho like her even in this school?"

That was her answer, then. Sighing, she looked towards the woman walking by her side, only to see that she heard the comments. Cursing her enhanced hearing, Red returned her gaze to the floor and continued the slow walk back to her room.

A few minutes later, she arrived. The professor took her leave at that moment, leaving the wolf alone in front of her dorm room. Red stared at the door before sighing, swiping her scroll over the e-reader, and stepping inside.

They were all already there. These days, they were always there – always waiting for her to come back. She had asked them why and they had told her that it was because she was their friend. She didn't understand why they insisted on still being her friends after what she had done.

"Hey, Red," Yang greeted. "How was your day? Everything okay?"

It felt wrong hearing her say that. They should have been afraid of her like the other students were. Her team, Coco's team, Jaune's team… they were all treating the whole thing like it was some kind of mistake, or accident. They didn't understand – _couldn't _understand – that they were wrong, that it had all gone almost exactly as Red had wanted it to, that the only thing that hadn't gone according to plan was Weiss interfering before she could finish Cardin off.

She couldn't even blame the fact that she was seeing things. She had been entirely lucid throughout the entire ordeal… though, given what happened at the Dust shop all those months ago, perhaps that was more fortunate than not.

Red looked back towards her team. She wanted to tell them everything – explain why they should hate her, why she wasn't worth their friendship, why she deserved nothing but scorn. Maybe then it would soothe her guilty conscience just a bit.

All it would cost was their friendship.

It was selfish of her, she knew; she didn't deserve their friendship, both because of what she had done and what she planned to do in the near future. It was going to cause them all nothing but pain. And yet, she couldn't help but accept it. For too long, she had been denied these kinds of genuine relationships, and to have them suddenly dangled in front of her was too enticing to pass up. It was wrong, but she couldn't help herself.

Swallowing the lump in her throat and pushing those thoughts from her head, Red nodded. "It was fine."

"Just fine?"

"Same as it always was. Nothing happened."

The wolf dropped her book bag on the ground, then took a seat on her bed, running her hands through her hair. Across from her, Yang's eyes narrowed, focusing on her. Red raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

Yang shrugged. "Oh, just thought I saw something. For a moment, it looked like there was some red in your hair."

It took all of the wolf's self-control to keep her emotions from showing on her face. Inwardly, she cursed. Between everything that had happened over the past few days, she had forgotten to re-dye her hair, and some of the dye had started to fade. She was lucky that Yang had written off the discoloration as nothing. Tonight, she would fix that. No remnants of her old life could be allowed to show.

Even if her new life was ultimately just another mask she was wearing, she couldn't afford to reveal any clues about the killer hiding beneath.

No matter how much having to keep the secret hurt, she couldn't allow it to get out.

Blake moved to sit beside her. "How's your studying going? You still need help with history?" Red shook her head. Blake's mouth tightened. "Alright. You know that if you need something, you can just tell us, right?"

She did, and that was part of the problem. Red was certain that they would drop everything to help her out if she simply asked… which was why she was purposely not asking. She didn't deserve their help.

Slowly, Red nodded in understanding. A flash of white out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to find Weiss settling in next to Yang. Their gazes met for an instant before Red looked away, unwilling to make eye contact.

She was too afraid of what she might find if she looked too deeply into her teammate's face.

Across from her, Yang cleared her throat. "Red, would it be okay if we called in Jaune's team and Coco's team tonight?"

"Why…?" Red asked.

"Just to hang out. We haven't done much as a big group since..."

She trailed off, but she didn't need to finish her statement for anyone to understand. Red had purposely kept herself distant from them all ever since she had nearly killed Cardin, which had been about a week ago. Her excuse was that she wanted to be alone. It was paper-thin, but it worked, at least for the moment.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the moment was up.

Red nodded softly. "Okay."

"Great. I'll give them the heads-up."

Red tried not to let her conflicted feelings show, but somehow she knew she had failed.

* * *

A bit later, they all arrived. Twelve people all crowded into Team RWBY's dorm – this had been the plan from the start, since Red was supposed to be escorted everywhere by a teacher and had to obey her curfew. If they stayed inside her dorm, they could be around her for as long as they wanted. They all thought they were doing something nice for her.

She didn't have the heart to explain just how uncomfortable it made her.

And so, they all sat there. Twelve of them, separated into three teams, each of them situated somewhere else – Coco and Blake were with her on her bed, Velvet was with Yang and Weiss on the opposite bed with Jaune and Pyrrha crowded in next to them, Yatsuhashi and Fox had commandeered the two desk chairs, Nora was sitting atop the bookcase by the window, and Ren was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her. It was cramped, but none of them seemed to mind. The alternative was not seeing her.

They were all here, but something was wrong. Every other time, the aura around the group had been good-natured – people laughing, telling jokes, enjoying each other's company… most of that was absent now. Now, there was nothing but silence. Even Nora had chosen to refrain from her usual antics.

It was almost unsettling.

Finally, Coco cleared her throat. "Okay, I guess I'll ask what we're all thinking." She turned to Red. "How're you holding up, kiddo? You doing okay?"

Red nodded. Coco sighed, then pulled her into a one-armed hug. "You don't seem like it. Something's bothering you."

"Is this really the best thing to talk about?" Pyrrha questioned.

"We're all here for her, aren't we? If something's the matter, we should work to fix it. And don't act like you weren't also thinking it."

Pyrrha refrained from responding, instead closing her mouth. Again, Coco sighed, then turned back to Red.

"Red, please tell us what's wrong. You haven't been yourself, and we're all worried."

It should have been easy to ignore that comment. She had done it with Yang earlier, and she had done it with the rest of her team when they had asked it over the course of the past few days. But now, stuck in a room with eleven other people all desperate to know the answer and with her own emotions boiling over, Red found it difficult to hold back.

Finally, holding back became impossible.

"...How can you all act like nothing is wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Coco asked.

"...You should be afraid of me," Red admitted. "After what I did… what I tried to do..."

"Yeah, Weiss told us," Velvet interjected. "But it doesn't change anything."

"How can you say that? I tried to kill someone, Velvet. I would have succeeded if Weiss hadn't stopped me."

"Red, we know that isn't the whole story," Fox replied.

"No, it's not," Red said softly. "You think it was an accident, but…" She hesitated. "...What if I knew what I was doing the whole time? What if I wanted to kill him? What if-"

She was cut off by Coco tightening the hug. Surprised, Red looked up at the brunette, who stared back at her with a stern expression on her face.

"Stop," Coco commanded. "I get it now. You feel bad about it because you actually wanted to kill him. Is that it?"

Slowly, Red nodded. Coco exhaled slowly.

"...It still doesn't change anything," she said after a second.

Red blinked, confused. "It doesn't?"

"No, it doesn't." She looked out over the room. "Everyone else agree?"

To Red's amazement, they all nodded. "H-how? How can you all say that…?"

"You said it yourself," Nora cut in. "You've never had friends before, and your friends are the most important people in the world to you. You saw someone threatening Weiss, and you tried to stop them."

"You went too far, but it's easy to understand why," Yatsuhashi added. "I can imagine that going your entire life without having anyone close to you would make you very protective of people who you eventually do get close to."

"S-so… you all just… want to treat me the same way?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Coco said, smirking. "It's like Yatsu said: you went too far – _way _too far, even without the killing part – but we can see why. It doesn't change our opinion of you." Her smirk disappeared. "But something tells me you don't feel the same way about yourself."

Slowly, Red shook her head. "N-no..." she admitted. She looked down at the floor. "...I wanted to kill someone, Coco. I almost succeeded. Doesn't that make me a mons-"

"Don't," Blake interrupted, catching everyone by surprise. They all turned to look at her, but she refused to even blink. "Don't call yourself that, Red. You're not a monster."

"How can you say that? I nearly killed Cardin – I _did _kill people at the Dust shop."

"Monsters don't feel guilty about what they've done," Blake pointed out. "You've been depressed all week because of what you nearly did to Cardin. All of us here can see that the guilt is eating you alive. You're incredibly remorseful, and it shows. If you were anything like the person you seem to think you are, none of that would be true."

"Blake's right, you know," Yang cut in. "You almost messed up big time, now you're paying the price for it – and I don't just mean your suspension, I mean the fact that you're beating yourself up over the whole thing. If you were half as bad as you claim to be, you wouldn't care at all."

"…I agree," Weiss said softly. Red stared at her, stunned, but the heiress merely sat up a bit straighter and refused to look away. "I'll admit that I was scared when I saw what you were doing, but I wasn't scared of you. I was scared of the person you reminded me of."

Red slumped in her seat. Of course, Weiss had no way of knowing that she was speaking about the same person.

"...But that person isn't you," the heiress added. "And I don't just mean that literally. You're _nothing _like them, Red."

"H-how can you be sure…?"

"Because I know you," Weiss insisted. "I'm your teammate, and more importantly, I'm your friend. I know the real you, and the real you isn't some heartless killer. Even if you can't see yourself as anything besides that, I promise you that when we look at you, that's not what we see."

"...That's because you don't know the-"

She caught herself just in time. Any longer would have spelled disaster. Instead, it left everyone in the room staring at her, confused.

"What was that, Red?" Weiss asked.

The wolf swallowed, her nervousness disappearing along with the lump in her throat. "...You all don't know how it feels," she muttered. "To want to kill someone like that..."

"I do," Coco replied instantly. "Felt it back when I was a kid and I saw my old man smacking my mom around one night. Thought about grabbing the knife off of the kitchen cutting board and sticking it right in his back. Part of me still wishes I did."

"...That's different."

"How is it different?"

Red was silent. Coco sighed, pulling her back into a hug.

"I get it, kiddo," the brunette said. "You feel really bad about what you did. You think you're some kind of monster, that you're disgusting, or that you're evil. Truth is, you're not, and you never will be – you've got too big a heart for it." She looked out over the room. "Everyone agree?"

Unanimously, they nodded. Red felt tears come to her eyes, and forced herself to blink them away.

Was she wrong? She had been convinced that they would all see her as a monster, the same way she saw herself… yet they had surprised her by refusing to do that. It seemed that no matter what she did, they were going to stick by her anyway. It was confusing, but that was what they had chosen. She glanced over at Yang, and their gazes met.

And for a fraction of a second, Red honestly considered coming clean.

The words were on the tip of her tongue. All it would take is a few seconds, and she could instantly end Yang's quest. And if what they had all said was any indication, she could put an end to her own torment as well. Instead, she held herself back.

No. Despite what they thought, she was too far gone.

And even if she wasn't, there was still something she needed to do, and telling Yang would just make accomplishing it that much harder.

Once again, Red forced herself to choke down her words, and instead stayed silent, stewing in her own self-hatred.

Not much happened past that point. They conversed for a few more hours, until it was too late for them to do anything but return to their rooms and go to sleep. They all seemed much more at ease. And despite how wrong it felt, Red did as well, even if only a little.

Their words were ultimately hollow since they had no way of knowing the truth, but even hollow words meant something to someone who had been deprived of affection for so long. In the end, she found herself a bit more at ease, even if it was purely due to the fact that they hadn't gotten a glance at the true person hiding beneath Red's mask.

That night, Red reapplied her hair dye and tried to bury her guilt once more. She succeeded in the former. The latter left her tossing and turning for hours.

Finally, she had enough. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was almost one in the morning. Sleep wasn't going to come easy, and it definitely wasn't going to come if she tried to force herself into it. Instead, she might as well clear her head. It would technically be breaking curfew, but nobody would be around to see her do it, and she wouldn't be going outside of the building.

Silently, the wolf crept out of bed, stepping out into the hallway.

She closed the door behind her and turned around just in time to catch Pyrrha doing the same thing across the hall. Their gazes met, and the champion raised a hand in greeting.

"Couldn't sleep?" she whispered. Red nodded. Pyrrha sighed. "Yeah, me neither. Were you going for a walk?"

Another nod. The redhead approached her, taking her hand. "Follow me."

Red blinked, but did as she was told, letting Pyrrha gently lead her through the building. Eventually, they found themselves on the roof. Pyrrha gently closed the door behind her, then took a deep breath.

"That's more like it," she said aloud. "Sometimes I have trouble sleeping, so I like to come out here, just so I can breathe some fresh air and look at the moon for a while."

"...You have trouble sleeping?"

"Occasionally," Pyrrha admitted. "When I have a lot on my mind, for example. It's good to just come up here and think – helps clear my head."

She looked up at the shattered moon. Red followed her gaze, and the two of them stared at it together.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked, earning a nod.

"...You said you have a lot on your mind?" Red ventured.

Pyrrha hesitated, blushing slightly. "Ah, y-yes. You see, there's something I want to tell someone, but I'm not sure how to tell him… er, them." She waved her off. "Don't worry about it; it's not important right now, and I'll figure it out in time."

The wolf nodded in understanding, then turned her attention back to the moon. Silence reigned for a few minutes as the two simply stood in its light. Finally, Pyrrha spoke again.

"What you said earlier caught my attention, you know," she said. Red turned towards her, and their gazes met. "It made me think about a few things."

"...Things that keep you up?"

"A little," the redhead admitted. "Let me ask you something, Red: do you believe in destiny?"

The ex-assassin's brow furrowed. "Destiny?"

Pyrrha nodded. "It's the idea that everything in life is predetermined – that no matter what we do, we're led to the same destination in the end, and that there's no way to change it."

"...I've never thought about that."

"What do you think of it, though? Some people find it frightening."

Red hesitated. "...Maybe a bit."

"I can understand why," Pyrrha said. "But at the same time, it's a bit liberating, isn't it? If it's all predetermined, then nothing we do really matters. But if nothing we do really matters because the ending is always the same, then we can essentially do whatever we want – find meaning in meaninglessness, in a way."

"Why are you telling me this?" Red asked.

Pyrrha shrugged. "It's just something I got to thinking about after we were all done hanging out earlier. When you think about it, we are truly an odd collection of characters to get together, aren't we? Your team alone has you – a Faunus – and the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company together as partners, to say nothing of how the rest of us met. It seems almost too perfect to be due to random chance."

"...Like it was predetermined."

"Yes, exactly." Pyrrha paused, looking up at the moon once more. "Sometimes, I like to try and think about my own destiny. It doesn't do any good to worry about it, but I can't help but wonder, you know? Will I live a long, happy life? Will I be successful as a Huntress? Will I make my family proud? Questions like that sometimes keep me up at night, even though if we assume them to be predetermined, then there's no use worrying about them." Pyrrha stopped, turning back towards her friend. "Do you ever consider what your future will look like?"

In truth, she had. Frequently, in fact, and ever since she had been thirteen. She had actually considered the future so much that trying to envision another alternative future was downright impossible, the one she had first considered being burned into her mind as it was. It wouldn't do to bring it up with Pyrrha, however.

There was no easy way of explaining to a friend that everything she was doing, from escaping the White Fang to coming to Beacon, she was doing solely to achieve her ultimate goal of killing three people.

Instead, Red shook her head. "...I've always just followed my own path."

Pyrrha smirked. "Perhaps that's your destiny, then – to go wherever the wind takes you. It's impossible to know, but it's certainly interesting to think about."

"And your destiny?"

"Ever-changing, it would seem. When I was younger, I thought my destiny would lead me to a lifelong career of tournament fighting. Yet here I am, training to become a Huntress just a few years later. Funny how that works out."

"...Yeah."

The two stood in silence once more, simply enjoying the night air, the glow of the moon, and the other's company. After a few minutes, Pyrrha yawned widely, then rubbed at her eyes.

"Well, I think that's enough for me," she said. "What about you? Did all this help?"

Red nodded. Truthfully, it had – she was a bit more tired, to the point where she felt like sleep would come easier for her. Next to her, Pyrrha grinned.

"I'm glad. Anyway, it was good talking to you, Red. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, the redhead left, leaving her alone on the roof. Once more, Red gazed up at the moon.

If destiny was real, and if her life was any indication of what it was like, then it was cruel. But ultimately, it wouldn't matter for very long – just until she was out of Beacon. Once that happened, she was free to accomplish her goal however she saw fit. Three kills, and then nothing. It would be a catharsis she didn't deserve, but one that carried its own punishment with it to balance it out.

With that thought, Red turned and began to silently creep back towards her room, rubbing at her arms the whole time.

They had been screaming in pain ever since Pyrrha had left.

* * *

It was almost palpable, seeing how Red had changed after inviting the others over. She was still reserved and clearly still remorseful, but she wasn't as closed-off. It was a welcome change.

At the same time, it also made things more difficult for Blake.

The disguised Faunus was currently lying on her bed with a book in her hands, directly across from Red who was doing the same. The wolf was currently engrossed in _Sin and Sentence – _not exactly Blake's first choice for her given that it was a bit of a difficult read, but knowing what she now did about her team leader, she couldn't deny that it fit the girl perfectly. No wonder she was so enamored with it.

Blake turned her attention back to her own book, but found herself unable to focus on the words. There was too much going on in her head for that; the pages were leaving as quickly as her mind had registered them. Inwardly, she sighed.

_Just ask her, Blake. She's your friend; you can trust her._

Unfortunately, that wasn't the problem. Blake had no doubts as to whether or not she could trust Red. No, the problem was that she was afraid of Red's answer, both because it could mean Red refusing her offer and because it would just make her own doubts that much more difficult to ignore.

Ever since she had decided to come to Beacon, Blake had had a path in mind for herself – she was going to leave the White Fang for as long as it took them to throw Adam out, then rejoin. There hadn't been any doubts about that, and when Red had stumbled into her life, Blake had figured that she could take the wolf along with her as well – if nothing else, it would give her a place to go and people to surround herself with. It was a simple plan, ironically derailed by the simplest of reasons.

That reason being that Blake had become very close to many humans in her time at Beacon.

It was the one thing she said she would never do, yet here she was. She had arrived at Beacon prepared to avoid humanity at all costs, to treat them the same way that they had treated her before she had put on the bow… and they had surprised her by ultimately treating her well. She couldn't even blame the bow for it – they had all treated Red exceptionally well. Even Weiss had eventually come around and made friends with her.

_Weiss…_

The Schnee. Blake's opposite. The bane of existence for Faunus everywhere. The two of them weren't friends, and were only tolerating each other for professional reasons… yet Blake couldn't deny that Weiss was more than what the White Fang had made her out to be. She had shown a willingness to challenge her beliefs and embrace new ideas that Blake would have doubted could have come from any human, least of all one with her last name. Blake would even go so far as to say that she didn't hate Weiss, at least not anymore; despite her family name, she wasn't so bad. Certainly not as deserving of the scorn Blake had given her during their first few weeks together.

It all just made things too difficult. Blake had never been one to be rabidly anti-human, but she hadn't been one to trust them, either. That mindset would have easily let her go back to the White Fang, but now? Now, she wasn't so sure.

If she went back, she would be turning her back on everyone at Beacon, Red included if her friendship with Weiss was any indication. They might even be her enemies at some point, and that was just too much for her. And so, Blake Belladonna found herself torn between two worlds – the one her parents had created and eventually been ostracized from, and the one she had stumbled into when she had embraced the guise of a Huntress. On the surface, it seemed like a hard choice.

...But admittedly, looking a bit deeper, it really wasn't. She cared too much about her new friends to risk having to face off against them on a battlefield, and there was always the risk – however slim – that Adam hadn't been kicked out. Still, that didn't mean she was ready to completely turn her back on the group – they still stood for a good cause, and it was a group her father had created, which made it at least partly her responsibility.

Plus, there was always the matter of those rumors she had heard – about how Sienna had employed her own private assassin. Blake obviously had never lent much credence to them, even when Weiss' story had seemed to back them up; it just didn't seem like something the White Fang would ever do… but looking back, even she couldn't deny that Weiss' story matched up with some of what she had heard. Blake had put that down to coincidence, but upon reflection, they seemed a bit too close to be mere chance.

But still, even if those rumors about the Hellhound were true, that didn't change anything. The White Fang as a whole were still dedicated to peace – they just _had _to be. She refused to believe that her father's organization would have strayed so far from its initial goals in favor of petty revenge and bloodshed.

She just didn't know what to do, really. What Blake really wanted was to ask a friend – namely, Red – what her opinion was, but doing so would inevitably end with her exposing her secret. It would result in Red learning that their entire relationship had been built on a lie, and while Blake was certain it wouldn't end their friendship, the wolf almost certainly wouldn't take it well. And that was assuming she was sympathetic to the White Fang – if she was like Velvet, who didn't like them, things would be even worse.

Blake cast another look over at her team leader, once again weighing her options before biting her tongue. One day, she would bring it up, and the truth would come out.

But not today.

* * *

Something Yang had quickly learned about her team was that they all had their tells – their own ways of indicating that something was wrong. Weiss tended to alternate between getting even snippier or simply rolling with whatever punches were sent her way, depending on how she was feeling. Red got even more quiet and withdrawn than usual. Blake retreated to the confines of her books, burying her head between the pages and refusing to come out unless forced. Yang had her own too, of course, and if anything, hers were the easiest to see, mainly because it left her acting the opposite of how she normally did – very quiet and reserved instead of outgoing and bombastic.

Which was why Weiss had noticed so quickly that something was wrong.

Huffing, the heiress racked the bar, then immediately turned around to face her friend. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Yang blinked. "That easy to tell, huh?"

"I just did my first set and you didn't encourage me at all. Something's up."

The blonde's mouth tightened. "...Yeah, okay, I won't hide it. This time of year is rough."

"Why is that?"

"Because this is around the time when my mom died and my sister went missing."

Weiss blinked. "Oh."

Yang sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known."

Weiss thought for a moment, then rose from the bench and grabbed Yang's hand. "Follow me."

"Follow you? Where are we going?"

"Somewhere a bit less crowded."

That didn't really answer her question, but Yang wasn't about to argue. Weiss led her out of the gym and into the hall, and the two of them ducked into a nearby empty room before shutting the door behind them.

"Alright, talk to me," Weiss said. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Yang sighed. "...I get real emotional around this time of the year. It's just frustrating, you know? Ten years and we still haven't found who killed my mom or where my sister is."

Weiss put a hand on her shoulder, and Yang gave her an appreciate look before continuing. "I could live without knowing anything about my mom's killer if I had my sister back, but we've got nothing. Nobody's seen or heard from her in ten years, and the only people still actively looking for her are my dad and my uncle, and even then, Dad's really cut back on time spent looking over the past few years."

"And you feel bad because you could be searching as well," Weiss interjected.

Yang nodded. "Yeah."

"No offense, but that doesn't make any sense. From what you've told me, the only reason your uncle is able to look all over Remnant is because his job as a Huntsman takes him to those places. Without a Huntress license, you wouldn't be able to support yourself the way he can."

"I know..."

"Then why beat yourself up over it?"

"I just feel bad, alright? I know it doesn't make any sense, but that's just the way I feel."

"I understand, but is it really helping anything?" Weiss asked.

Yang sighed. "No, it's not."

"Then there's no use getting yourself worked up about it, is there?" the heiress pointed out. Reluctantly, Yang shook her head. "Yang, you'll find her one day. And once we all graduate, you'll have more resources and people to help you look."

"...Still can't believe you all offered to help," Yang muttered.

Weiss smiled softly. "What did you expect when you told everyone? At the very least, I can offer you whatever help the SDC has available, and the others can pass along your sister's name and description to any towns they come across. And I'm sure that if you asked, they would all drop everything to come and help you with a more thorough search."

Again, Yang sighed, though she ended it with a small smile. "Geez, what did I ever do to deserve all you guys?"

"Well, for one, you brought us all together," Weiss pointed out. "I don't know if you realize it, but you're basically the reason why Team RWBY is even a team at this point, and why we're all friends with JNPR and CFVY as well."

"You're giving me a bit too much credit, Weiss Cream."

"And you're not giving yourself enough credit, Xiao Long." Weiss patted her gently on the back. "Now, as your friend, I am ordering you to get in there and bench… what was it?"

"Four-oh-five."

"Bench four-oh-five-" She paused. "Really? That much?"

Yang's grin widened. "For reps, yeah. You should see my max. And then there's my squat, my deadlift, my power clean..."

"...I'm guessing you do a lot for those as well?"

This time, the blonde laughed. "Oh, you have no idea. The only one who can match me in our year is Nora." She flexed one of her biceps. "I'm a beast… though I think you already know that due to firsthand experience."

Weiss began to sputter. "Wha- t-that was a fluke! A fluke, I say! Goodwitch called the match wrong! My foot was _not _out of the arena!"

"Excuses, excuses," Yang said, waving her hand.

Wiess huffed, crossing her arms. "Yeah, well, you still haven't beaten Red!"

"Weiss, _nobody _has beaten Red, except Pyrrha that one time. That girl is freakishly strong. Besides, I still lose more gracefully than you."

"Oh, you wish!"

The two continued their friendly argument as they headed back into the weight room. It was times like these that Yang truly appreciated Weiss – the heiress was more than willing to throw herself on the chopping block and start up arguments over inane things just to keep Yang from feeling miserable. Yang couldn't wait to introduce her to her sister.

Somehow, she just knew that the two of them would get along great.

* * *

The rest of Red's suspension passed by uneventfully. After another week, her time was up, and she was free to rejoin the rest of her classmates. Her teammates and friends had been happy to see her return to normalcy.

She, on the other hand, considered it a mixed bag.

None of her friends saw the looks she was being given, nor did they hear the whispers directed her way. Her suspension may have been over, but the other students continued talking. There was talk about how she had gotten off too leniently for what she had done, how they were all afraid of how she would snap during Combat Class and send them to join the others in the hospital, how she was too dangerous to roam Beacon's halls… None of it should have bothered her – she didn't know any of these people personally and she likely never would – but the fact that what they were saying was mostly truthful was more than enough to hit her right in the heart.

There were other things being talked about, too. Apparently, people had put two and two together, connecting her incident with Ozpin's sudden cracking down on racism towards Faunus students. Many students were relieved about this, but there were several who weren't. From what she could tell, they were angry at the sudden upset to the balance of power, and they wanted revenge. Normally, Red wouldn't have been too concerned, but she was on thin ice as it was. If she got into another fight, justified or not, Ozpin might not be as lenient with her.

To that end, she made it a point to always travel with one of her friends nearby. That way, if things went south, she would at least have a witness there to support her.

Besides her, there were other topics of discussion, too. Apparently, the White Fang attacks on Dust shops were intensifying, and at the same time, the sudden violent deaths of Atlesian politicians and military officials had completely stopped. Nobody knew what was going on, but Red did.

Obviously, Sienna was planning something big. She had no idea what it was, but judging by how the assassinations had ended, Almost was a part of it. Red wasn't concerned; her team was safe at Beacon, which was all that mattered.

Sienna would get hers in due time. For now, Red would let the professionals handle it and hope for the best.

And in the meantime, she would just have to deal with Weiss' complaining.

"Honestly, who needs that much Dust?!" the heiress protested, the two of them walking through the halls. They had just gotten done training together as a team. Weiss huffed. "I just don't understand what the plan is."

Red shrugged. "Could be anything. Bombs, maybe."

"They would be pretty big bombs for the amount of Dust that's been taken, and seriously, what would they even bomb? I hate the White Fang, but even I have to admit that random massacres of civilians isn't their style."

"Why even assume the White Fang is behind all of this?" Blake asked. "Torchwick has been stealing Dust as well."

"Blake, you realize that they've caught several White Fang members on camera committing these robberies, right?"

"It could be a few misguided members."

"Why are you even defending them? They're a bunch of criminals."

"Criminals don't fight for civil rights."

"Okay, girls," Yang said, pushing between them. "Let's all just chill before we say something we regret. Alright?"

Weiss huffed, but nodded. "Fine. I don't understand why Blake insists on making excuses for them, but this isn't something worth arguing about."

"I agree," Blake replied.

That should have been the end of it. In a perfect world, the two of them would have dropped the topic then and there, never to bring it up around each other again.

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Days passed, and it seemed that every passing day brought with it more news of a Dust shipment being stolen or a store being robbed. Weiss was clearly stressed – she was being called up by her father more and more often, and it was obvious that he was using her as a way to vent his frustration. It left the rest of them feeling disgusted, but if the way Weiss appeared day after day was any indication, it was leaving her feeling stressed. She was sleeping poorly, she wasn't eating right, her schoolwork was starting to suffer… she was clearly just barely holding it together. Eventually, something had to give.

And as it turned out, all it took was one poorly-timed comment from a student in the hall a few days later to make Weiss go ballistic.

"What did you say?" the heiress asked, whipping around to face a boy in the hall the group had just passed.

The boy shrugged. "Nuthin'."

"Oh, I'm sure. You just accused my friend of being a White Fang member."

"Yeah? What if I did?"

"You need to apologize."

"Why would I?"

"Weiss..." Red pleaded, grabbing her teammate by the sleeve.

Weiss shrugged her off. "No, I'm not leaving until he apologizes to you for what he said."

The boy sneered. "Like I said, I ain't doing it. Piss off."

Weiss' brow furrowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but Yang cut her off by stepping in front of her and glaring at the boy.

"Insult my friends again and you and I are going to have a problem, and you know how I like to deal with my problems," Yang threatened.

The boy's cocky sneer disappeared as he thought back to Yang's last fight in Combat Class – one against a guy who refused to listen when Yang turned him down for a date. He nodded, his hands drifting to protectively cover his groin.

The blonde huffed, then gently rested her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "C'mon, Weiss. Let's go."

"What?! Don't tell me you're going to just let him-"

"Alright, you know what? Let's try this instead."

"What are you- Yang! Unhand me, you brute!"

Weiss thrashed in Yang's grip, but it was no use – the blonde had her securely slung over one shoulder and was carrying her off towards the dorm room, Blake and Red following behind. It would have been humorous if not for what had just happened.

Red unlocked the room for Yang, and the three of them strode in. Yang gently deposited Weiss on her bed, and the heiress rounded on her.

"What did you do that for?!"

Yang didn't flinch. "Weiss, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?! Yang, did you hear what he accused her of?!"

"Yes, I did. It pisses me off too, but yelling at him isn't going to accomplish anything."

"How do you know? We should go back and get an apology from him, or let Goodwitch know. I won't have Red be associated with those… those degenerates!"

"Degenerates, are they?" Blake asked.

Immediately, Yang whipped around to face her. "Blake, I'm begging you, don't start this now."

"No, please go on," Weiss said, glaring at her teammate. "I'm curious as to what defense you have for the White Fang now."

"The same as I always do – criminals and degenerates don't fight for civil rights."

"And civil rights activists don't rob Dust shipments, kidnap and execute executives, and attempt to murder teenage girls."

"Girls, please," Yang begged.

"They do if nonviolent protests aren't working, and there's no indication that the murderers are anything more than a fringe group."

"Funny, because the rest of the group has never once denounced them for what they've done."

"Girls!" Yang shouted, causing them both to face her. The blonde's eyes flashed red. "Let's not start this now, okay? We're all running a bit hot, and saying things we don't mean."

"Are we?" Weiss asked. "I certainly meant every word. How about you, Blake?"

"On that, we can agree," Blake replied.

Yang couldn't help but groan in exasperation.

"You know, I just thought of something," Weiss suddenly said. "Why don't we ask the one person who should know more about the White Fang than anyone here?"

"And who would that be?"

The heiress glanced over at Red, who blinked in surprise. Blake's eyes narrowed.

"Why would Red have an opinion about the White Fang? She's never had any connection with them."

Red hesitated. She shouldn't be answering… yet Blake had to know that her perception of the White Fang was wrong. Her lack of knowledge was understandable – she was a human, and she clearly cared enough about civil rights that she wanted nothing more than to assume the best about the one group on Remnant that was even slightly fighting for them – but at the same time, it was misguided. Someone had to set her straight, and in the absence of anyone else, Red was going to have to be the one to do it.

"Actually..." Red said softly.

Blake looked at her, confused. "You know about the White Fang?"

Slowly, Red nodded. "I assume that Weiss figured I'd know about them because I'm a Faunus, and she was right, but not entirely just because of that – they tried to recruit me back when I was in Mistral."

"Then you know more than anyone what I'm trying to say. Go on, tell Weiss she's wrong."

"She's not."

Blake's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"...She's not wrong," Red said. It hurt to have to spit in Blake's face like this, but it was for her own good. "The White Fang I know is made up of criminals. I've seen them assault and even kill random humans for no reason back in Mistral. They lure in misguided young Faunus with promises of fighting for equal rights, and then set them to work committing violence instead. If you try to leave, you're tracked down and killed."

The ravenette recoiled like she'd been struck. "Red, how… how could you say that? T-that's not-"

"It's true, Blake," Red said. "All of it. There's a reason I never joined. If they were as good as you say they are, I would have jumped at the opportunity. Why do you think I didn't?"

Blake hesitated. "...N-no, that can't be right. The White Fang I know wouldn't-"

"How would you know anything about the White Fang?" Weiss asked.

Again, Blake hesitated. Then, to Red's surprise, something strange happened.

Her bow _twitched. _

She wasn't the only one who saw it, either. Yang and Weiss both stared at Blake, surprised.

"Uh, Blake?" Yang asked. "Why did your bow just-"

"Move..." Weiss muttered.

Then, without warning, the heiress summoned a glyph and trapped Blake in place. Before anyone could do anything, she darted forwards and ripped the bow from Blake's head. The ravenette gasped in pain, and for a fraction of a second, Red wondered why.

She stopped wondering when she got a look at the two ears situated atop her friend's head.

The three of them sat there, stunned and unsure of what to say. Distracted as she was, Weiss couldn't help but drop the glyph, and Blake wasted no time in running for the door. She had just made it out into the hallway when Red realized what was happening and gave chase, easily catching up to her. She swept Blake's legs out from beneath her but caught her before she could hit the ground, then locked her in a hold.

"Let me go!" Blake gasped through her tears, struggling in the wolf's grasp.

"Blake, please don't leave," Red begged. "We're your friends. Come back and talk to us."

"I can't! Y-you… Weiss will..."

"She'll listen if you ask," Red insisted. "But if you run away now, you'll just be giving her more reason not to, to say nothing of how you'll be turning your back on the rest of us."

Blake's struggling quieted down a bit, and Red paused before trying again.

"Please, just talk to us. I'll keep Weiss under control if she tries anything. Let us help you."

Green eyes met amber. Blake hesitated, then acquiesced with a nod.

"Okay… but for now, this stays between us. I'll tell everyone else when I'm ready, but..."

"Okay," Red said, letting her friend go. Blake rose to her feet on shaky legs, then wiped her tears away. Red offered a hand, and Blake hesitantly accepted it. Together, the two walked back to their room.

Weiss and Yang were there waiting for them, the heiress still holding Blake's bow in her hands. The two of them looked over as Blake entered the room, and the newly-revealed Faunus shrank beneath their gazes, looking away. Immediately, Yang was at her side.

"Hey, partner," she said gently. "Come here and speak with us a bit. I promise we'll listen."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Blake closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose, then opened her eyes and nodded slowly.

"Alright…"

She took a seat on her bed, and Red closed the door before taking a seat next to her. Weiss and Yang commandeered the bed across from hers. The ravenette looked over at Red, and the wolf nodded. Reassured, Blake began her story.

"...I guess, to begin with, my name isn't really Blake Solandra," she admitted. "I changed my name when I came here – my real name was too recognizable. My father made the White Fang, you see-"

Yang's eyes widened. "Wait, your dad is Ghira Belladonna? _You're _Blake Belladonna?!"

Blake winced, then nodded. "Yeah…"

"Blake, you've been reported as missing for years! Your parents must be worried sick!"

"I know!" Blake shouted, taking them all by surprise. She gave them all an apologetic glance, then in a smaller voice, said, "I know… we had a fight about five years ago. My mom and dad thought the White Fang was getting too radical and wanted to leave. I… I called them both cowards and ran off to stay in the organization. I haven't talked to them in years..."

"You need to call them right away," Yang said sternly.

Blake shook her head frantically. "I can't. There's no way they'd accept me after-"

"That's garbage and you know it. Blake, my sister's been missing for ten years – I know what your parents are feeling right now. They wouldn't care about what you said, all they would care about is that you're alive and safe. You _have _to call them. I can promise you that whatever you've done, they'll look past it. I know that if my sister was in a similar situation, I wouldn't care so long as I had her back."

Red felt a bolt of pain lance through her heart at that, and it took everything she had to keep from reacting. She froze, staring at her sister in shock, though thankfully everyone was too focused on Blake to notice.

Had Yang meant what she had said? She certainly sounded like she believed in it… but it couldn't be true. Sure, she had said it, but she didn't _know_ anything. If she knew what Red had spent the last few years doing… no, there was no way she would ever accept the wolf after what she'd done, no matter what she claimed. Red would just have to maintain the lie; no matter how much it hurt, the truth coming out would be infinitely more painful.

...But at the same time, she couldn't deny that the temptation was there – the desire to just spill it all, and let the consequences come. Certain as she was that Yang didn't really know what she was saying, there was a _chance, _however small, that she would stay true to her word. But that was too good to be true – too simple an out for a monster like her. No, she deserved this – the effects of having to hold in the story and maintaining her lies just to make sure it stayed locked away.

In her eyes, Red deserved to suffer for what she had done. And if that included sticking with her lies, even taking them to her grave, then so be it. Even if the thought of Yang never finding out what had happened to her hurt more than anything else she could imagine, it was still preferable to the alternative.

Pushing her desire to tell the truth away, Red turned back to the others. Blake hesitated at Yang's words, then sighed. "Okay…"

"So, you were in the White Fang," Weiss interrupted, sounding unimpressed. "What did they have you doing?"

"Nothing major, I swear," Blake said frantically. "Mostly protesting at first. I didn't see combat until I was fifteen. That was when they put me to work knocking over SDC warehouses and train shipments." She couldn't help but wince. "Sorry..."

"And..." Weiss hesitated. "Did you ever… you know…"

Confusion flashed across Blake's face for a moment before it was replaced with recognition. She quickly shook her head. "No! No, I mainly fought robots. Any humans I fought, I made sure to just knock out. The only one who killed people during raids I was on was-"

Weiss blinked. "Was…?"

"...Was the reason I left," Blake admitted. "His name is Adam Taurus, a bull Faunus. He was my friend, my mentor… eventually, my lover." She sighed. "He was fine at first, but then he… changed. He started getting more violent during raids, people started dying… he claimed they were accidents, and while I believed him at first, there were too many for it to just be accidental. I was just too stupid to really realize that until it was almost too late."

"Hey, don't blame yourself for that," Yang admonished. "From the sound of things, you trusted him a lot, and he took advantage of that trust. It's not your fault."

"...Thank you. That means more than you think it does." Another sigh. "Anyway, I finally got out a few months before the school year. We were supposed to hit a train – not to steal the Dust, but to destroy it; this was before the Dust shops and shipments started being robbed."

"So you don't know why it's happening?" Weiss asked.

"I swear, I don't."

Weiss' mouth tightened, but she accepted Blake's answer with a nod. Turning to Red, she asked, "I don't suppose you know why?"

Red shook her head. Truthfully, she was just as confused about that as the rest of them.

Weiss sighed. "Alright, I suppose it's not important right now. Besides, I have another question that matters a lot more."

Turning to Blake, she asked, "What made you leave?"

Blake didn't even need to think about her response. "Adam did. He was getting to be too much, in every aspect. But the thing that finally made me leave was during our attack on the train. We were supposed to blow it up… but there were people on board. I didn't want to do it, but Adam… he didn't care. He just started setting the charges anyway." Blake paused to collect herself. "I jumped to another train car and decoupled it, leaving him cut off before he could kill the crew. Then I escaped into the Forever Fall."

Weiss' expression softened slightly. "I remember hearing about that attack. Just so you know, you saved a lot of lives."

"Good," Blake said softly. "I'm glad."

"Hold on," Yang interrupted. "When you said that guy – Adam, right? – was getting to be too much, what do you mean? Something tells me it wasn't limited to just his behavior on missions."

Blake hesitated. "No, he…" She sighed. "...At first, he was gentle with how he treated me. But times started to change, and..."

Yang's eyes narrowed and flashed red. Weiss managed to calm her down by resting a hand on her arm, but it was clear that the blonde was still incredibly angry.

But she wasn't the one to worry about.

Silently, Red contemplated adding a fourth name to her list.

Weiss removed her hand from Yang's arm. "...So, what now? I mean, you're out of the White Fang, right?"

Slowly, Blake nodded. "...Yeah. Yeah, I am. It's funny, actually – when I first came to Beacon, I only intended to stay here for as long as it took for Adam to get kicked out for being too radical. I planned to go back to the White Fang at some point."

"What changed?"

"I met you all," Blake said. "I realized that going back would mean that all of us would be on opposite sides." She hesitated, then sighed. "...I was going to ask Red to come with me, if you can believe that."

Red blinked, surprised. "...I'm glad you didn't."

"So am I, now that I know how you feel."

"But..." Red hesitated, wincing at the question that popped into her head. "...Our friendship… was it-"

Blake caught on immediately. Vehemently, she shook her head. "No! Red, what we had wasn't a lie, I swear! I didn't think about trying to recruit you until we were already friends – I approached you because I thought you were having a rough time and could use some help, and a friend. Our friendship is completely genuine, I swear."

Red exhaled softly. "...I believe you, I just-"

"You had to know. I understand. I'd do the same if I was in your position."

At that, Red gave her friend a brief hug, which Blake reciprocated. Breaking apart, they both looked back over to Weiss, which she took as her cue to continue.

"But now that you know about what the White Fang is really like, you don't believe in them anymore, right?" the heiress asked.

"...I don't know," Blake said softly. "Part of me still isn't convinced that what you and Red are saying is true. I mean, I grew up in the organization – my dad created it, and I spent my entire life in it. I never saw anything like what you two are saying, at least not on a widespread scale."

"Then let's find out for ourselves," Weiss said, rising from her seat.

Everyone looked at her in surprise."Find out?" Yang asked.

The heiress nodded. "Yes. During one of my father's rants earlier today, he mentioned a large Dust shipment coming into the docks tonight."

"How large are we talking?"

"Large enough to resupply every major Dust shop in Vale."

The blonde let out a low whistle. "That's a lot of Dust..."

"Indeed. One might say that it's too much Dust to resist."

Blake stared at her. "You think whoever's responsible for the robberies will try to steal it?"

"Absolutely. I mean, if you wanted to get a lot of Dust at once, why not go straight to the source? They'd have to go through an SDC security detail to get it, but if they were dedicated enough, that wouldn't be much of a problem."

"So, what do you suggest?"

"We head down to the docks and stake the place out in order to see who it is. If need be, we call the police and get them involved. Getting into a fight should be a last resort."

Reluctantly, Blake nodded. "And JNPR and CFVY?"

"That's too many people," Yang pointed out. "Four people is probably already pushing it for a stakeout. Eight would be spotted pretty easily, especially if one is Nora. With twelve, we're talking about being found instantly. Plus, are you really comfortable talking with people outside the team about..."

She trailed off, but motioned to the top of her head for emphasis.

Blake frowned. "I will at some point, but for now, I think it would be best to keep it just between us."

"So, it's settled, then," Weiss said. "We're going to the docks, and-"

"N-no!" Red shouted.

All of them looked at her, perplexed. "No?" Yang asked.

Frantically, Red shook her head. "No," she repeated. "Too dangerous."

"What makes you say that?" Blake asked. "We'll just be scouting the place out."

"We could be spotted."

"Well, how many men could they possibly have? If they send too many, they risk getting spotted by the cops. We can't be dealing with more than a few dozen crooks at most." She turned to Weiss. "What's the security detail for a ship like this?"

"The one coming into port tonight is a medium-sized freighter, so we're looking at a security detail of about twenty men."

"Well-trained?"

"Ex-soldiers, mostly." She shrugged. "Father might have sprung for some additional security in the form of a Huntsman team, but I doubt many of them would be willing to take a job that required them to sail from Atlas to Vale, especially one as high-risk as this."

"Is that something the people trying to rob the ship would know?"

"Probably. Crew size is common knowledge, but the bit about Huntsmen isn't. I wouldn't put it past someone dedicated enough to getting this Dust to know it, though."

"So, they would probably have planned around that, then."

Red held up a hand. "It's still too dangerous," she insisted.

Weiss put a hand on her hip. "I understand your misgivings, but unless you have a better plan, there's really no way of knowing what's going on. Unless we want to keep this argument going, I say we do it." She turned to Blake and Yang. "Blake, I know you're in. Yang, how do you feel?"

The blonde shrugged. "I'm in if you're in."

Red bit her lip. From the sound of things, they were insistent on going. She wanted to bring up Almost, to explain that there was a possibility that someone far more dangerous than anyone they had ever met would be there as well… but there was no way she could do that without compromising herself. Besides, that wasn't his M.O.; he was a killer, not a thief. There was a chance he would be there, but it was small. And from the sound of things, there wasn't going to be any combat, anyway – just a lot of watching and waiting on their part, followed by a call to the police.

In any case, if there was even a small possibility that Almost was there, then she had to go. She wasn't going to let her team face him alone. If it came down to it, she would hold him off to buy them time to escape.

Slowly, she exhaled, then nodded. "Alright, I'll go… but I want everyone to pack extra ammo."

Blake frowned. "We're not expecting a-"

"Just in case," Red implored. "We don't know what we're facing, and if there's even a chance we'll be in combat, I want us to be prepared."

"...Alright, I guess that makes sense," Blake acquiesced. "Let's go, then."

"Oh! Before I forget," Weiss said.

She walked over and offered Blake her ribbon. Blake accepted, tying it back into a bow and hiding her ears beneath it. Seeing this, Weiss frowned.

"Doesn't that hurt, keeping them hidden like that all the time?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Blake replied.

The heiress winced. "Sorry about earlier, when I-"

"It's fine," Blake interrupted. "Let's go."

"Right."

With that, the four of them set off, stopping only for a moment to stock up on ammo at their lockers before continuing over to Beacon's airfield. They filed onto an airship, and within moments, they were on their way into Vale.

The whole time, Red tried her best to swallow the feelings of apprehension welling up inside her.

Something told her this was going to end poorly.

* * *

**Shorter chapter this week. Sorry, but this was the best spot to end it. Next week will make up for it, though. I won't spoil anything, but I will say this: it's gonna be a **_**good **_**one, ****and a **_**long **_**one – definitely over 20,000 words****. Next chapter, and the one immediately after it, are two that I've been waiting to write literally since November 2018 – they're some of the first ideas I came up with when I first envisioned this fic, and I'm super excited to finally get to them after all this time. ****I think you know what I mean...**

**Aside from that, things are starting to come together. Blake's real backstory comes out, and at the same time, Red's own backstory is starting to rapidly come apart at the seams, ****but not because of anyone else's actions – rather, she's starting to ****fall apart****, finding it harder and harder to come up with excuses as to why she can't tell anyone about who she really is.**** The more lies she tries to pile up, the more ****she continues to**** unravel. Needless to say, we're getting awfully close to the breaking point. All it's going to take is a little push…**

**B****esides that, I know a lot of you were probably expecting some more drama with Blake's true backstory coming out, but I did my best to try and both balance the drama along with the fact that they're all supposed to be friends now. That's just what made the most sense to me – I couldn't see any of them just turning their back on Blake after everything they've gone through as a team so far. At the very least, I figured they'd all be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, Weiss included. ****Even if Weiss has some history with the White Fang, I just couldn't see her lumping Blake into it, especially when Blake clearly had nothing to do with it, wasn't a fanatic, and was willing to admit that she didn't want to return to the White Fang anymore. Let me know if you disagree, I'd be curious to hear about what you think.**

**N****ext update: ****Saturday, June 6.**


	15. Chapter 15

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 15

* * *

By the time the four of them arrived in Vale, the sun had started to set. It was a Friday, so they didn't have to worry about classes in the morning, but that didn't change the fact that they were on a time limit.

"Okay," Weiss began, "the ship is due to come into port around seven. That gives us about an hour and a half to get over to the docks, set up a position, and start keeping watch."

"Sounds good," Yang said with a nod. "Anyone have any ideas about where to set up?"

"Rooftops," Red grunted.

"Any reason why?"

"Keeps us out of sight – they might be looking on the ground level, but not above them. Plus, I can set up a sniping position." Seeing everyone's incredulous looks, she quickly added, "...Just in case."

"...Right," Yang said. "Okay, so, rooftops. Let's do it."

The four of them made a beeline over to the docks, arriving after about twenty minutes of walking through town. The port was still occupied with workers, but most of them had left for the day, their shifts having ended about the same time the girls had arrived in Vale. Now, the only ones left were those either still in the process of packing up, or those who were supposed to help the freighter unload its cargo.

Sneaking past them was easy enough, even for someone like Yang. Locating a suitable location to set up was similarly easy. However, there was one problem: a locked door barring entry to the roof.

Weiss frowned. "Great. Okay, so now what do we-"

She was cut off by Yang stepping forward and cocking her fist back. However, before the blonde could punch the door off its hinges, Red grabbed hold of her hand, stopping her. The brawler looked at her team leader in confusion, and the wolf simply shook her head.

"I'll do it," Red said, pulling out her sniper rifle. "Stand aside, I'll bash the lock open."

"Or, I could just pick the lock," Blake offered.

Weiss looked at her, surprised. "You can pick locks?"

"White Fang infiltrator, remember?"

The heiress frowned, but said nothing as Blake reached into her pocket and pulled out a bobby pin, then got to work on the padlock. A minute later, it came clattering to the floor, along with the chain it was securing. Blake stepped aside, then beckoned them all onwards.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Show off."

"Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it."

"That's my line, Blakey."

Red paid no attention to her teammates' banter, instead stepping onto the roof and looking around, frowning in the process. There wasn't much she could use to construct a firing position, but thankfully her gun had a built-in bipod and monopod. Pulling it out, she unfolded it and began setting it up, pausing only to check that it was loaded with explosive rounds.

Almost tended to shrug off anything less than that.

With her gun now set up overlooking the docks, Red began to dial in her scope. It was a relatively simple process, and one she had done countless times before – her scope was already zeroed, so it was just a matter of adjusting for range and windage. Soon enough, her weapon was completely dialed in, leaving the wolf to pull it away from her shoulder and rest it on the ground while she joined the rest of her teammates, who had taken a seat together a short ways away.

"All good?" Yang asked as she approached, earning a nod. "Great. So, now we wait."

"That was the idea," Weiss replied.

"Now would probably be a good time to mention that this is going to get boring fast."

Blake rolled her eyes. "I brought a book."

"Yeah, but nobody else did, so we're going to make you suffer with us."

"And what did you have in mind? Rock paper scissors? Twenty questions?"

"...Weiss, you're it."

"What?" the heiress asked. "What are we playing? How does it work?"

Yang frowned. "...Okay, never mind. On second thought, Red's it." She paused. "...No, that won't work either..."

Red just tilted her head, confused. She opened her mouth to reply, only to be cut off by a noise from below them. Her ears twitched as she focused on it, and her hand drifted to her holstered pistol.

"Someone's coming," she reported.

Immediately, her teammates leapt to their feet, drawing their weapons in the process. Each of them took up defensive positions, prepped and ready to deal with whatever threat came their way. Whether it was dock security or White Fang agents, they weren't going to go quietly.

They were all surprised when it turned out to be neither. Rather, it was a familiar-looking, orange-haired girl.

Weiss blinked. "...Penny?"

The newcomer grinned widely, then waved. "Hello, friends!"

Everybody relaxed except Red. Yang breathed a sigh of relief, then stepped forward. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you from down below!"

They all exchanged glances. "...You heard us from that far?" Blake asked.

Penny nodded. "Indeed! My hearing is very good!"

"...Are you a Faunus, by chance?"

"No! I am a human, like Yang and Weiss." She hiccuped.

"Okay." A pause. "...Wait, you know I'm a-"

"Indeed!" Penny replied happily. "I thought it was obvious that your bow was hiding your ears! And might I say, what cute ears you have!"

"...Well, that's kind of embarrassing for all of us," Yang whispered, earning a nod from Weiss and a grunt from Red. In a louder voice, she said, "So, what made you decide to investigate, Penny?"

"I followed the sounds of your voices and saw you were here! Then I noticed the padlock on the ground and realized what was happening! Just so you are all aware, breaking and entering is a Class D felony under the Valean penal code, section four-two-nine, and is punishable by four to six years in prison, a maximum fine of ten-thousand lien, or both!"

Her smile stayed unbroken the entire time she was speaking. Again, the four girls exchanged glances.

"...Right," Blake said tentatively. "So, are you going to report us?"

Penny paused for a moment. "...I am conflicted. My father told me to report any crimes I encountered to the authorities, yet in doing so, I would be reporting my friends to the police, and I don't think that's something friends do."

"Yes, that's absolutely right, Penny," Yang interjected. "Friends don't report friends, especially not if those friends are involved in helping their friends."

"What are you doing?!" Weiss whispered harshly.

"Getting her off our backs," Yang replied softly through gritted teeth. Turning back to Penny, she smiled widely. "So, why not join us? It'll be fun."

"I don't know," Penny replied. "This feels like an attempt to keep me from speaking about this incident, as doing so would require that I incriminate myself as an accomplice to your crime."

"What? Nah, that's crazy! We're just five friends, hanging out. Don't you want to hang out with your friends, Penny? We can… uh… paint our nails! Talk about cute boys! You know, do friend activities together! Because we're friends! Right, girls?"

All of them stayed silent. Yang loudly cleared her throat. "_Right, _girls?" she asked, a bit more harshly.

This time, the three of them grumbled. Yang turned back to Penny, grinning widely. "See that? It's like you're one of us already! Pull up a chair, bud!"

"I do not see any chairs around, friend Yang."

"It's a figure of speech! C'mere and take a load off! And whatever you do, _don't call the cops."  
_

"Well… okay. I suppose just this once I can look past your criminal ways."

At that, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe, and all it took was Penny joining them… which wasn't a huge problem so long as she could keep from being spotted, but the way Red saw it, she couldn't be any worse at that than any of the others, especially not if they managed to keep her distracted.

"So, what are you all doing here, anyway?" Penny asked, taking a seat next to Yang.

"We're, uh… bird watching," Weiss said.

"Bird watching?"

"Yeah..." Yang said. "...Through Red's sniper rifle. Because we don't have binoculars."

"Truly? Is that something friends do?"

"Yes, it is," Blake said.

"Sensational! I shall watch the birds with you to the best of my ability." Penny focused her attention on a nearby building, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Look, friends! There's a pigeon!" She gasped. "Oh! And another pigeon! Isn't this fun?!"

"Penny, you might want to keep it down," Yang said. "You'll scare the birds away."

"Oh, you're right! I apologize, friends; I will be more quiet in the future." She smiled widely. "This is so much fun!"

"Right..."

The next few hours passed by relatively uneventfully. To their amazement, Penny continued to bird watch the entire time without growing bored, which prompted several scroll messages between them about what was up with her, but in the end they all just wrote her off as her being quirky yet harmless. In any case, they all managed to avoid detection for as long as they were watching over the docks.

Night eventually fell, bathing the entire city in moonlight. The docks, and more specifically the port designated for the freighter, were the sole source of light for the nearby area, all the other buildings having been abandoned by the employees for the day. It served as a signal, beckoning the freighter in.

After another hour of waiting, the ship arrived, pulling into port. Crew members and dock workers set about unloading its contents, piling shipping containers and boxes of Dust into the warehouse. Red peered through her sniper scope, watching and waiting for anything.

"What do you see?" Blake asked from beside her.

"Everything appears normal. No signs of trouble just yet."

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake frowned. "Well, let's hope it stays that-"

Suddenly, the lights to the warehouse went out. Through her scope, Red watched as the workers and guards began to look around, clearly confused. She swallowed nervously, knowing what was about to happen.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked. "Did the power go out?"

"Or it was cut," Yang replied. "What do we do?"

The only thing they could do – Red was not about to let her team get involved directly. "Call the police," she commanded. "I'll keep watch."

"Oh! I can do that, friend Red!" Penny said excitedly. "I have always wanted to dial emergency services – they seem like such nice people!"

With that, Penny pulled out her scroll and placed a call to the police department, informing them of what was going on. She was just in time, too – no sooner had she managed to connect to the department did gunfire erupt from the shadows. Any dockworkers unfortunate enough to be in the way were cut down, with only a few managing to escape death thanks to their aura. The guards attempted to return fire, but were forced to fire blindly at muzzle flashes due to the darkness. In the end, they didn't fare much better than the dockworkers, and were either killed or rounded up and captured.

Watching from beside Red, Blake paled. "No, no… this isn't the White Fang's M.O…."

"What's happening?" Yang asked. "Weiss and I can't see anything."

"Whoever's down there, they don't care about whether or not they kill anyone," Red reported.

"What?! Then what are we waiting for?! We have to get down there and-"

"No!" Red snapped, cutting Yang off. "We are not going down there, do you understand?"

"You can't be serious! Red, they're killing people!"

"And if you're not careful, you'll be one of them! We don't know what kind of opposition we're facing, or even who they are! We are going to sit back and let the police handle this."

Yang growled irritably, her eyes flashing red. "Fine. But if they kill one more person, I'm going down there."

Red promised herself that she would knock Yang out if that was what it took. She wasn't going to let any of her friends, and least of all her sister, risk facing Almost.

Just as quickly as the lights cut off, they came back on. Once again, the area was illuminated, revealing the carnage below. Several dockworkers lay dead, along with about half the guards. The survivors, whether unconscious or still active, had been rounded up and zip tied together, and were being held at gunpoint by their captors.

And their captors, it turned out, wore familiar-looking masks.

Red exhaled through her nose. "I'm sorry, Blake."

"W-what's going on?" Blake asked. "I don't… the White Fang would never..."

She trailed off. Clearly, even she didn't believe in what she was trying to say, at least not anymore. Red gave her a sympathetic look.

Blake sighed, then turned to Weiss. "...Looks like you were right."

"Unfortunately," Weiss said, her voice hollow. She looked down at one of the bodies and shivered. "It's like being in Atlas all over again..."

Red was about to respond when movement through her scope caught her attention. She focused in on it, and to her surprise, she found herself staring at someone she was already very familiar with.

"Torchwick..." she said, surprised.

"What?" Blake asked. "That can't be right. Let me see."

Red shuffled to the side, letting Blake sidle in behind her sniper rifle. The cat Faunus brought the scope up to her eye and peered through it, only to lower the gun in amazement.

"What's going on…?" she asked. "The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not someone like Torchwick."

"All the more reason to go down there," Yang interjected. "You know, get some answers."

"Yang, we are waiting for the cops," Red repeated.

"Are we? 'Cuz it's been several minutes already, and I haven't even heard a siren yet."

"The average police response time in Vale is roughly twenty minutes, owing to a variety of factors such as traffic patterns and a generally increased crime rate than in the suburbs," Penny chimed in.

Yang's face fell. She took a deep breath, then stepped forward. "Alright, I'm going down there. Don't try to stop me."

Red paled. "Yang-"

The blonde ignored her, instead continuing to stalk towards the edge of the building. Red quickly abandoned her rifle, then rose to her feet and raced in front of the blonde, blocking her path.

Yang paused, irritated. "Out of the way, Red."

"No. You are not going down there."

"I'm not gonna let them kill anyone else!"

"And I'm not going to let them kill you!"

"This is ridiculous," Yang growled. "Move. I'm leaving."

Red exhaled, her hand drifting to her holstered gun. Seeing this, Yang paused, her eyes narrowing.

"What are you doing?"

"Stopping you," Red replied shakily.

"What, you're gonna shoot me if I try to help? Have you lost your mind?!"

"I told you, you're not going down there. If I have to knock you out to stop you, I will."

"What's your problem?! I'm trying to save lives! That's my duty as a Huntress!"

"And I'm trying to save you!"

"From what?! What do you think is down there that we can't handle?!"

"Someone far worse than the White Fang or Torchwick!"

"And who would that be?!"

Red opened her mouth, only to quickly catch herself. Pausing, she shook her head. "...That doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does! What are you so afraid of?!"

The wolf refused to answer. Yang's eyes narrowed. "Get out of the way," she growled.

Red sighed, moving to pull her gun out of its holster. Her fingers had barely closed around the grip when she felt herself suddenly be locked in place. Looking around, she found her body surrounded by a large glyph.

"Go!" Weiss shouted. "I'll be right behind you!"

Yang nodded appreciatively, then leaped off the building, nearly impacting on the concrete below before stopping her descent with two shotgun blasts. Weiss turned to follow her, only to hesitate and look back at Blake.

"You coming?"

Blake cast a look over at her team leader, then back to Weiss. Slowly, she nodded, then took a running start and followed after Yang.

Red hung her head. "...You're all making a big mistake," she said softly, before sighing. "...Weiss, let me go. We're going in after them."

Weiss nodded, then let her glyph drop. Red picked up her sniper rifle, then swapped out her Fire Dust rounds for Gravity Dust. Turning back to Penny, she said, "Penny, wait here and keep the police updated."

Penny blinked. "But friend Red, I am combat ready! I can help!"

"Don't. You'll be more useful up here than down there."

The orange-haired girl hesitated before nodding. "...If that's what you think is best."

"Thank you." Red slid the bolt forward on her sniper rifle, then turned to Weiss. "Let's go."

The two of them leaped off the edge of the building, slowing their descent in their own ways – Weiss with her glyphs, and Red with her sniper rifle. Upon landing, both of them readied themselves, then took off towards the sound of gunfire and jumped into the fray.

* * *

Yang had never felt more alive than when she was beating down a room full of bad guys, and tonight was no exception. Her gauntlet-clad fist collided with an unfortunate White Fang member's head, shattering his aura as well as his mask and sending him sprawling. There was no room for rest, however – another had taken his place, armed with a submachine gun. He held down the trigger, and the blonde felt bullets impact against her aura. She grit her teeth, then aimed her gauntlets behind her and fired off two shotgun shells that sent her soaring towards him, one fist cocked back. His eyes widened behind his mask, but it was too late for him to get away; the resulting impact sent him flying back into a shipping container, which rocked back and forth before settling.

Another White Fang member approached, but before he could do anything, he was intercepted by a shadowy figure who took him out with a few well-placed slashes from her katana. Yang paused, smirking when she saw who it was.

"How you holding up, partner?" she asked.

"Doing good," Blake replied. "What next?"

Yang looked over the carnage. Half a dozen unconscious White Fang members stood between them and the captives, who were looking at them with wide eyes. It didn't take much for her to put together what needed to happen next.

"We make sure the hostages are okay, then go after Torchwick and get some answers."

Blake nodded, and the two of them took off towards the civilians. A few White Fang fired shots at them from across the docks, but flashes of red and white, followed by the sounds of gunfire and exclamations of pain, told them there was nothing to worry about. Yang couldn't help but smirk.

_Nice of you to join us, Red._

The two reached the captives in record time, and Blake didn't hesitate to cut through their zip ties with her sword.

"Anyone injured?" Yang asked, seeing they were now free.

One of the captives, a woman wearing an SDC guard outfit, nodded. "A few, but most of us are up."

"Okay. I want those of you who can still move to gather up those who can't, and start carrying them. We'll clear you a path."

"Got it."

Yang turned to Blake, then nodded. "Let's go."

With the now-free hostages behind them, the two Huntress-in-training burst out of cover, charging towards the front gate. A few White Fang got in their way, but they were quickly pulverized and cut down, though both Yang and Blake received multiple gunshots for their trouble. Still, it was better them than the captives; at least the two of them still had aura.

After a few minutes of fighting, Blake approached the gate, only to see that it was locked. Looking around, she located a control panel for it, though she was quick to growl in frustration.

"Damn it, which one opens the-"

Yang cut her off by firing a shotgun shell into it. Blake looked at her with exasperation, but to her relief, the gate began to open. The blonde simply smirked, and it only grew wider when she saw the hostages running out of it to safety.

"Come on," Yang said, "let's go find Torchwick."

Turning around, the two partners raced off back towards the center of the docks, searching for their target. They passed multiple unconscious White Fang on their way, though none of them had been the work of either girl. Judging by the pillars of melting ice and spent pistol cartridges, Weiss and Red had gotten here first.

"Geez, we're really doing a number on 'em," Yang said as they ran. "Wonder why Red was so spooked?"

Blake didn't answer, apparently too focused on finding Torchwick to care. Yang sighed, lamenting the fact that everyone else on her team was too serious to enjoy small talk during a fight.

The two of them rounded a corner, and to their surprise, they were met by just the man they were looking for.

"Torchwick!" Blake spat, stopping in her tracks.

Torchwick paused, staring at them in surprise. Slowly, he moved his cigar over to the corner of his mouth, then blew out some smoke. "Well, today just keeps getting better and better," he grunted. "I take it the two of you are with the little killer wolf pup?"

"We'll be the ones asking the questions," Yang said.

"Oh, how scary. And what would those questions be?"

"Why are you working with the White Fang?!" Blake yelled.

"That's privileged information, kid," Torchwick taunted. "I think I'd rather refuse."

"Then we'll just have to beat it out of you," Yang threatened.

"Tempting offer. But unfortunately for you..."

Torchwick pulled the stub of his cigar out of his mouth, then threw it on the ground and crushed it beneath his heel. Before either girl could ask what he was doing, the sound of twin engines caught their attention, followed by two floodlights appearing above them. Both of them looked up, and to their horror, there were twin gunships floating there.

Torchwick smirked. "...Mine are bigger than yours."

"Run!" Yang shouted, shoving her partner out of the way and taking off after her.

She was just in time to save both of them from getting the brunt of an autocannon burst from both gunships. The rounds themselves missed completely, but the shrapnel was still intense enough to do a number on their aura. Both girls stumbled from it, their auras taking deep hits, but ultimately kept on running, looking for somewhere safe.

"There!" Yang shouted, pointing towards a warehouse. "We'll lose 'em in there!"

"What about Red and Weiss?!" Blake shouted.

"We'll get to them once we're not in danger of being shot to pieces, now move!"

Blake offered no further arguments. The two of them burst into the building, Yang punching down the heavy steel doors just in time to avoid another burst. They both collapsed onto the ground breathing heavily, both from exertion and to try and calm themselves after nearly being torn to ribbons by gunship fire.

Their relief was short lived, as to their horror, both of the gunships had started to hover overhead and were now opening their cargo bay doors, each of them letting even more White Fang out into the battlefield.

"Shit..." Yang said, pausing to top up her gauntlets with fresh belts of ammo. "No rest for the weary, it seems."

Next to her, Blake swapped out her pistol's magazine for a fresh one, nodding as she did so. The two of them took up defensive positions and braced themselves, waiting for the first wave of enemies to converge on their location.

Several Faunus burst through the entryway, rifles at the ready. Yang launched herself towards them with a yell, doing her best to ignore the bullets striking against her aura. She fell into the first squad of four, wasting no time in getting to work. Out of the corner of her eye, she was aware of Blake doing the same, and silently pleaded that her friend would be okay by herself.

Yang dodged out of the way of a sword slash, retaliating with an uppercut that sent her attacker flying. There was no time for rest, as another man approached with a warhammer; the blonde sidestepped his overhead swing, then swept his legs out from beneath him and drove her fist into his solar plexus, following it with twin blasts from her gauntlets that left him buried in a small crater.

Rifle rounds suddenly began to pepper her back, and she turned around to find two women firing assault rifles at her. The brawler angled her gauntlets behind her and fired off two shots that sent her flying, eventually landing in between them. One of the White Fang members tried to draw a knife; for her trouble, Yang sent her flying back into a wall with a single shotgun blast. The other leveled her rifle towards the blonde, but Yang simply grabbed the gun and pulled, sending the wielder stumbling towards her; Yang greeted her with a flurry of punches to the face that left her unconscious on the ground.

Gunshots to her side caught her attention, but to Yang's relief, it was just Blake firing several rounds into an enemy's torso. His aura flickered before fading, and Blake wasted no time in bashing him in the temple with the flat of her sword. He collapsed to the ground, leaving both girls the last ones standing. The two of them exchanged a glance as they tried to catch their breath.

Their rest didn't last, as one of the gunships appeared above the warehouse. Before either could react, the pilot began to shred the roof with autocannon fire, clearly intending to flush them out. Both Huntresses dove for cover to avoid the explosive shells, which narrowly saved them. The burst ended as quickly as it came, and Yang was quick to look around. The strafe had completely torn up the warehouse, and a few of the White Fang had gone with it. The blonde swallowed the bile that she felt rising in her throat at the sight of the mangled corpses, then grabbed her partner and began to run. Where didn't matter – the only important thing was that they got out of sight before their luck started to run out.

Light settled over the two of them, and Yang felt her heart leap into her chest. Looking around, she spotted a large stack of shipping containers, with one of the bottom containers opened. As fast as she could, the blonde picked up her partner and dove inside, praying that the impromptu cover would hold up.

They barely had time to scream before the gunship opened up once more.

* * *

Red dodged out of the way, narrowly avoiding a slash from a broadsword. She grabbed onto the wielder's arm, then used it as leverage to wrestle him to the ground. Drawing her pistol, she fired off three rounds into his head, breaking his aura. She was about to fire a fourth when she shook the thought from her head. Instead, she struck him with the bottom of her gun, knocking him out.

This was bad. She hadn't seen any trace of Blake or Yang, and at some point she had gotten separated from Weiss. Then those two gunships had shown up and things had gotten even worse – they had dropped off more reinforcements, and they were chasing someone around and shooting at them. Red had tried to rush over to help whoever was being followed by them, but instead had found herself running into squads of White Fang members she was forced to fight.

Three more White Fang approached her, two with swords and one with a shotgun. Red growled angrily, then used her semblance to split into rose petals. The three looked around, confused, and she took advantage of it by colliding with the shotgun wielder, slamming him into a wall. He wheezed as the air was driven from his lungs, and Red wasted no time in pummeling him, striking him in the groin and head before shooting him twice in the face. His aura flickered and faded, and she looked around for another target.

She was taken by surprise when something impacted against her head, trapping her in a cloud of smoke. She coughed, trying to clear her lungs; at the same time, something was stuck in her right eye. She brushed at it, and after a moment, finally succeeded in wiping away whatever it was. She was just in time, as the two Faunus from before had managed to close in, swords at the ready. She sped out of the way of one's slash, then grabbed his arm and circled around behind him with her semblance, pulling it straight; with her free hand, she struck him in the back of the head until his aura gave out, then twisted his arm until she heard something snap. The man yelled in pain, and she released him in favor of focusing on his ally, who had started to charge her. The Faunus simply drew her sniper rifle, then fired off three shots of Gravity Dust that sent him flying off the docks and into the water.

Distracted, she was unprepared for someone else to fire a grenade round at her, which landed at her feet and sent her flying back into a shipping container. Picking herself up, Red looked around for her attacker, her eyes narrowing when she saw a White Fang member with a grenade launcher standing in the window of a nearby warehouse. He raised his weapon, but Red pulled out her sniper rifle and fired a shot towards him; the sniper round struck him in the chest, sending him flying backwards away from the window.

The wolf rose to her feet and was prepared to chase him down when a scream cut through the air. Her eyes widened.

"Yang..." she whispered.

As fast as her legs would carry her, Red took off running towards where she heard her sister. She emerged close to a destroyed warehouse, one with several bodies lying nearby, each one shredded by autocannon fire. For a moment, she was terrified that one might be Yang; relief washed over her when she saw they were all White Fang.

It died when she saw her sister and her friend hunkered inside a shipping container, one that was having chunks taken out of it by gunship fire every second. Red felt her face contort into a snarl as she stared up at the gunship.

This had gone on long enough. If she didn't get serious, one of them was going to get killed.

She wouldn't allow that, no matter what.

Pulling out her rifle, Red fired off several shots below herself, enough to get her on top of the tower of containers. The gunship's searchlight settled over her, but she didn't care. In fact, she welcomed it; as long as it was focused on her instead of the people she cared about, nothing else mattered.

The gunship opened up on her, but Red used her semblance to race out of the way of the gunfire. Running along the tops of the containers, Red managed to reach the end, and when she did, she pointed her weapon down at the ground and fired off a single shot, one which sent her flying towards the airship.

And in the air, for the first time in months, Red switched her rifle over to its true form.

Red landed on the cockpit of the airship, digging her scythe into the front. Bulletproof glass shattered beneath the sheer force of the weapon. Inside, she heard the pilot scream as the blade stopped inches away from his face. Red wrenched her scythe out of the cockpit, taking the glass with her before burying the blade in the airship itself. Frantically, the pilot began to move his vehicle from side to side, desperately trying to shake her off; Red simply dug her scythe deeper into the side of his ship, then drew her pistol and fired until he stopped moving. Before the ship could spiral out of control, Red reached over and engaged the autopilot, then grabbed the control stick; angling it towards where the other gunship was hovering, she sent the ship flying forwards, the autopilot keeping its altitude locked and on a collision course.

The wolf pulled her scythe free seconds before both ships made impact, then jumped for safety, slowing her descent with what was left in her rifle's magazine. She landed just as the gunships collided in a giant ball of fire, narrowly managing to avoid being struck by debris in the process. The ex-assassin hastily reloaded, then ran off to where Blake and Yang were taking cover.

To her relief, both of them stumbled out of their impromptu cover, looking shaken and exhausted but very much uninjured. They both froze when they saw her, and it took her second to realize why.

She still had her scythe out.

"Red, is that-" Blake began.

Red quickly collapsed her weapon into its compact form, then stowed it. "That's not important," she hissed. "Where's Weiss?"

Blake blinked in surprise, then shook her head. "No idea."

"Wait here; I'm going to look for her. Watch over Yang."

"Wait-"

The wolf didn't heart the rest, instead speeding off to go search for her partner. She left in such a such a hurry that she never got to hear Yang mutter something beneath her breath.

"Silver eye…?"

* * *

Several buildings away, Penny stood, dumbfounded and unsure of what to think. She had been about to jump in and help her friends deal with the gunships, but Red had beaten her to it. It should have been relieving to see. Instead, it was a nightmare.

One of Penny's prime directives, issued to her by General Ironwood himself, had been to search for and document any information she could find about the mysterious assassins that had been terrorizing Atlas for years.

And after much searching, she had finally found one.

She should have been jumping in to help – Weiss, Blake, and Yang were still her friends, after all. But at the same time, she had been told that she was absolutely not to engage with the assassins under any circumstances unless reinforcements were nearby.

So instead, against all of her instincts screaming at her to go and help her friends, Penny reluctantly bit her lip, hunkered down, and continued to record footage of Red for comparison against archived footage.

The whole time she hoped that she was wrong, even if she knew she wasn't.

* * *

Weiss threw down a glyph, deflecting an incoming strike that was aimed for her head. With her opponent now off-balance, he was open for a series of retaliatory strikes, which she capitalized on. His aura flickered and faded, and he collapsed in a heap on the ground, lying among several other incapacitated White Fang.

Panting, the heiress looked around frantically. "Yang?! Red?! Blake?! Anyone out there?!"

No response. She had lost her friends early on in the fighting, Blake and Yang having been forced to run away from the two gunships and Red jumping in to take care of the brunt of the enemy forces. That had left Weiss to deal with the stragglers, though it hadn't been easy – she was running low on Dust, aura, and energy, and it was starting to show.

Weiss took several deep breaths before taking off running again, searching desperately for her friends. A glimpse of white disappearing around a corner caught her attention – part of Blake's outfit, perhaps, or maybe Red's given that the wolf was wearing a white shirt that Coco had bought for her. In either case, Weiss frantically chased after them.

Rounding the corner, she found nothing but a gun barrel aimed at her face.

The heiress scarcely had time to dodge out of the way before the gun fired, sending a grenade rocketing downrange. Before the wielder could fire another shot, she threw them backwards with a glyph, sending them flying back into a storage container. They impacted with a loud grunt, then fell to the ground, their weapon slipping from their grasp.

"Torchwick," Weiss spat, cautiously approaching with her weapon raised.

"Persistent..." the thief grumbled, standing up and dusting himself off. He stared at Weiss' sword nonplussed, then raised his hands. "I suppose you're going to try and interrogate me now?"

"Shut up," Weiss spat. "The cops will be here any second, and when they are, I'll make sure they take you in."

"Yeah, see, that just isn't going to work – I've got plans, you know. I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

"You're in no position to act smug."

"Really?" Torchwick said, smirking.

From above, Weiss suddenly heard the sound of an engine. Chancing a look up, she saw a Bullhead floating over the docks, far out of range of anything Red could do to get to it. The cargo bay doors opened, and someone jumped out. Weiss' eyes widened when she realized they were aiming for her, a blade clutched tightly in their hands. She quickly moved out of the way… but to her surprise, the figure opened a parasol of all things and daintily floated down to the ground, landing next to Torchwick.

Multicolored eyes and a smug grin met her, and Weiss frowned. The diminutive girl smirked, then took a bow. Next to her, Torchwick rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes, you were very impressive. Now be a dear and take out the trash for me, will you?"

Before Weiss could do anything, the girl shattered like glass and disappeared. Looking around, the heiress was blindsided by a series of strikes to her back. She whirled around, catching the girl with her rapier, only for her to shatter once more. Again, she countered, catching Weiss with a series of jabs before looping her parasol around the heiress' legs and bringing her crashing to the ground. Frantically, Weiss rotated her weapon's cylinder to Lightning Dust and pulled the trigger, trying to use her time dilation to the best of its ability. She succeeded in slowing down time enough to see the point of a blade slowly coming down towards her throat and rolled out of the way, then retaliated with a stab of her own. The girl recoiled as the time dilation wore off, but she was quick to disappear once more.

This time, when she struck, she made it count. Weiss felt her aura shatter with a series of well-placed hits, and a harsh jab to the stomach from the girl's umbrella brought her crumpling to her knees, gasping for breath. Her weapon slipped from her hands and onto the ground, where it was kicked away by the girl. Looking up, Weiss saw her opponent's cocky grin grow downright predatory as she raised her blade, pointing it at her throat. She brought the blade back, and-

"Stop."

Instantly, the girl paused, then looked at Torchwick for confirmation. He sighed, then pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it up.

"They wanted this one alive, remember?" he specified, taking a drag on his cigar. "They're a bunch of animals, but they promised a good payday. You know how it goes, Neo."

The girl's eyes shifted between pink and brown, her smile disappearing. Still, she nodded, sheathing her sword and shifting her parasol to her off-hand while cocking her other hand back. Then, she drove it into Weiss' chest, causing her to double over in pain, black spots dancing on the edge of her vision.

Torchwick raised his cane and fired once into the air, and the Bullhead began to descend.

The last thing Weiss was aware of before she blacked out was Torchwick slinging her over his shoulder and carrying her inside.

* * *

Red ran as fast as her legs would take her, but unfortunately, her speed wasn't the problem. There were still a few White Fang members left, and with Blake and Yang out of commission, there was nobody else to deal with them. She turned a corner and almost ran into two Faunus pointing guns at her, yet she felt nothing but irritation.

"Out of my way!" she shouted, pulling out her scythe just as the two men opened up on her. She spun her blade, deflecting their bullets, then charged in. With a few slashes, she reduced both men to pieces on the ground, then continued on.

Earlier, she had seen a Bullhead arrive, then descend to the ground a short while later – Torchwick's escape vehicle, no doubt. Red knew Weiss well enough to be certain that her friend would have tried to pursue the criminal, which meant nothing but trouble. Weiss was good, but she didn't stand a chance against both Torchwick and his little assistant, to say nothing of whatever other help the thief had brought with him.

Cutting her way through several other White Fang members, Red burst into the center of the docks just in time to see the Bullhead start to lift off. Glimpsing inside, she found Weiss lying on the floor, clearly unconscious.

"Weiss!" the wolf shouted, speeding forward with her semblance.

The Bullhead rose, rapidly gaining altitude. Frantically, Red drew her scythe and took a running jump, then aimed her weapon behind her and pulled the trigger.

A loud click greeted her.

"No, no!" she shouted, hurriedly swapping her spent magazine for a fresh one.

It was too late. By the time she had finished reloading, the Bullhead was far out of reach. Red watched it go in dismay, but after a second, turned and began to sprint back towards where she had left Blake and Yang. Sirens caught her attention as she ran; the police had finally shown up, but it was too little too late.

Arriving back where she had left her friends, Red found them being questioned by police. Several other officers had started to secure the scene, and were already unmasking White Fang members and loading them into police cruisers. Red paid no attention to them, however; she simply stalked over to Blake and Yang, her expression grim.

Blake turned towards her, eyes widening. "Red!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Oh, thank the gods you're okay! We were so-"

"Call Ozpin," Red grunted.

"What? What are you-"

"Torchwick has Weiss," Red reported, stunning Blake into silence. "I'm going after him, but I'm going to need reinforcements."

"He has her?" Blake asked softly, earning a nod. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's-"

"You and Yang aren't going to do anything," Red commanded. "Neither of you have any aura left, and you'd only slow me down. I'm going alone."

"That's crazy! You don't even know where they're taking her!"

"No, but I will."

"And how do you intend to figure that out?"

Red said nothing, instead looking around. After a few moments, her gaze settled on two police officers leading a pair of Faunus away in handcuffs – a male fox Faunus, and a female wolf Faunus. She looked down at their hands, and her heart just about skipped a beat when she saw matching rings on their fingers.

"Stay here," she grunted before taking off.

She was aware of Blake protesting, but she paid it no mind. As much as she cared about Blake, her friend's opinion wasn't important right now.

Red came to a stop in front of both police officers, who looked at her in surprise. She focused on the two prisoners, her gaze narrowing.

"I need to see your prisoners for a moment," she implored. "In private."

The two officers exchanged a glance. "And who might you be?"

"One of the ones who just got done doing your job for you, and someone who's going to have a dead teammate unless you hand over those prisoners."

"Well, we can't exactly-"

Red huffed. "I'm not asking," she said irritably. "I'm running out of patience and my teammate is running out of time. Either you can hand over your prisoners or I can take them from you by force. Now, take a look around and tell me if you really want me to do this the hard way."

Again, the officers exchanged a glance. They then looked around at the battlefield around them, taking stock of the ruined buildings, the cratered ground, the mangled corpses, and the burning airships. After a few seconds, both of them turned back to Red.

"...Take 'em," one of them said hesitantly.

Red grunted in understanding, then grabbed both of the Faunus by their handcuffs and dragged them into a nearby warehouse, then slammed the door shut behind them.

The fox Faunus sneered at her. "Well, would you look at that? The race traitor wants to question us. How cute."

Red didn't reply, instead shoving him down and forcing him to sit. He glared at her as she forced his wife to kneel, then moved behind her.

"What do you want, girly?" he asked. "Make it quick – I've got a cell to break out of."

"Torchwick has my teammate," Red said, impatient. "I know he's working with you. Where is he taking her?"

The man laughed. "Shit, honey, you hear that? The wolf pup wants me to help her. Well, if you think I'm gonna answer that, you've got another thing-"

Red cut him off by drawing her knife, then using it to sever one of her hostage's fingers at the knuckle. She held up the detached digit so the man could see, then dropped it on the ground. The woman started to scream, and his eyes went wide.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!" he shouted, struggling against his handcuffs. "Let her go!"

Red ignored him, instead pressing the knife against one of the woman's remaining fingers hard enough to draw blood. "I'm going to ask again," she threatened. "Tell me what I want to know or I'll cut something else off of her."

The man bit his lip. "I don't kn-"

Red took another finger, again showing it to him before dropping it on the ground. He stared at it, mouth wide open, before he began to struggle once more.

"I'll kill you, you hear me?! You and your friends are dead!"

The ex-assassin ignored him. "Perhaps I need to spell it out for you," she said, her tone calm despite everything that had just happened. "I don't care what happens to your wife. The only thing that matters is my friend. Until you give me what I want, I'm going to keep taking pieces of your wife. I'll start with fingers, then toes. Once those are gone, I'll start pulling teeth. Then I'll move on to her ears, then her eyes. Finally, if she isn't dead by then, I'll start cutting off strips of flesh until I've completely skinned her alive." Her eyes narrowed. "Or you can give me what I want and I'll let her go now."

"You're a psycho, you hear me?!"

Again, Red ignored him. "Choose now, unless you want me to take another finger off of her for wasting my time."

The man bit his lip. After several seconds, he sighed, then hung his head. "...Alright. We've got a safe house – it's an old Vale Self Defense Force bunker from the Great War that we took over and re-purposed. It's about five miles north of the city, smack dab in the middle of a large clearing in Forever Fall. If you follow the train tracks, you'll find it easy."

"If you're lying to me even a little bit, then when I come back, I'll break into wherever they're holding your wife and gut her like a fish."

"I'm not!" he shouted. "There, I told you what I know! Please, let her go!"

Red cast one glance down at the sobbing, terrified Faunus in her arms, then exhaled. She flicked the blood off her knife, then sheathed it and stepped away from her hostage. The man looked at her in surprise, but she paid him no mind, instead stepping past him without a word and exiting the warehouse.

She was vaguely aware of him calling out to his wife, trying to assure her that she would be okay, but that didn't matter. Right now, nothing mattered but getting to Weiss.

Emerging back outside, the two cops took one look at her before racing inside. Red ignored them, instead stepping over to her two friends, who stared at her with disbelief.

"What did you do?" Blake asked.

Red didn't even hesitate. "What I had to. Have you called Ozpin?"

"No, I-"

"Call him now. Tell him to prep an airship with reinforcements and two medical teams, then direct it towards the old Vale Self Defense Force bunker just north of town."

Blake looked like she wanted to argue, but didn't. Instead, she sighed, then reached for her scroll. "...Okay."

Red exhaled through her nose, then dropped into a runner's stance. She was just about to take off when Yang stood up.

"Wait," the blonde said.

Red hesitated, but ultimately stopped to look at her. The brawler swallowed nervously, and when she spoke, she did so with great uncertainty.

"Your eye..."

Red tilted her head, confused. Shakily, Yang brought one hand up and pointed to her right eye.

"S-silver..."

Immediately, Red clutched at her eye, trying her best to cover it. In that moment, she realized that the irritation she had felt in her eye earlier must have been her contact lens being knocked loose. Next to her, Blake stared at her in amazement, frozen halfway through dialing Ozpin's number. Red cast a glance between the two of them, then sighed. Tentatively, she removed her hand from her eye; they had both seen it, so it would do no good to hide it now.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Red did her best to consider her options, but she couldn't find one that would get her out of this mess. It was almost poetic – months of planning and deception, undone by a single lost contact lens.

Shakily, Red slowly exhaled, then looked away.

"...I'm going to get Weiss," she said softly. "Don't try to follow me. Blake, can I trust you to do what I asked?"

"Yes," the cat Faunus replied. She hesitated. "...When you get back-"

There was no getting out of it – they had seen her eye, and her scythe. She knew exactly what they were thinking, and there was no amount of lying that could get her out of it. They knew the truth now, and they would never believe her if she told them something different.

What, then, would she do about the _other _truth, the one that they hadn't seemed to have figured out yet? She wasn't sure. Obviously, the first truth had to come out – that was a given. But the second… admittedly, she wanted nothing more than to continue the lie. If they didn't suspect it, then there didn't seem to be a good reason to reveal it to them.

...But at the same time, part of her was convinced that this entire facade would be going too far if she did that. There wasn't a doubt in her mind about what would happen to her once she told them about her past in the White Fang – they would absolutely try to kill her. And as much as she had promised to take her biggest secret to the grave… well, the thought of Yang truly never knowing what had happened to her sister was easy to conceptualize, but actually having to face the reality head-on was completely different. As much as she had tried to psych herself up for the eventual reality of it, Red had to admit that she still wasn't prepared for just what it entailed.

That left her only one thing to do, then.

"...I'll talk," Red begrudgingly muttered.

"Promise?" Blake asked.

"Promise."

Blake seemed to relax at that, but Yang still seemed uncertain. Red gave her a sad look, then turned away again. There was so much that had to be said, and no time for her to say any of it. Not when the life of a friend was on the line, at least.

Red closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, and then took off like a bullet. She sped through town, searching until she found the railroad tracks, then jumped on them and began to run along them, the whole time looking for the White Fang safe house.

In the back of her mind, she had but two prayers. The first was that Weiss would be okay when she found her.

The second was that Almost was as far away from Vale as possible.

* * *

When Weiss awoke, it was to a harsh pain in her head. She tried to bring her hands up to massage her temples, only to find that they refused to move, having been bound behind her back with zip ties. She struggled to free herself, trying to call out for help the whole time, but whoever had bound her had gagged her as well.

"Well, it looks like Snowflake is up," someone chimed in from beside her.

Turning, Weiss found herself staring at Roman Torchwick. Her eyes narrowed with disdain, and he just shrugged.

"Hey, you should count yourself lucky that I'm here. The others wouldn't be treating you nearly as well as I have."

Others? Weiss looked all around, slightly when she found herself faced with a half-dozen angry White Fang members glaring at her. She swallowed nervously, shrinking down in her seat.

The only thing keeping them away from her was the girl from the docks, who had placed herself between Weiss and them, her parasol held at the ready and a smirk on her face, as if daring any of them to try something.

"We did your dirty work for you," one of the Faunus spat. "The least you could do is give us something in return."

Torchwick sighed, blowing some smoke from the corner of his mouth. "See, as tempting of an offer as that is, there's a few problems with that. For one, your boss told me to bring her in alive, and as much as Snowflake and her friends have ruined things, I'm not about to ruin a potential payday by delivering damaged goods." He turned towards the six of them, his gaze narrowing. "And, for that matter, I have a pretty good idea of what you would do to her if you got your hands on her. Now, I'll be the first person to admit that I'm as far from a good person as possible, but there are some lines even I won't cross, and as long as I'm around to see it, I won't let anyone else cross them either."

The man growled. "Do you have any idea what her family-"

"Oh, please – you act like I haven't seen the mines for myself. I have, and it still doesn't change anything. Fact is, as long as I have her, none of you are going to lay a finger on Snowflake."

"Our leader will-"

"Do nothing, because he wanted her alive and in one piece until the cameras start rolling. He's a sick bastard, but he's writing the paycheck on this one, so he'll get what he wants. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with him after you're done taking it up with Neo." He ashed his cigar, then turned to Weiss, flashing her a grin before patting her on the head. "Don't you worry your pretty little head, Snowflake – I'll make sure you're safe and sound… for now."

Normally, Weiss would have been irritated with how he was treating her, but it was buried beneath relief that he wasn't going to let the White Fang have her just yet as well as fear that he eventually would once he got his money.

Despite Torchwick's reassurance, the Bullhead ride was tense the entire time. Only when it landed did the White Fang members finally relax, each of them giving one last spiteful look at her before disembarking from the airship and stepping outside.

There was no relief to be found, however. If they were here, that meant that Weiss was little more than a dead woman walking.

Torchwick grunted, pulling the stub of his cigar out of his mouth and tossing it to the ground before grinding his heel on it. Rising from his seat, he grabbed his cane and pointed it at her, then motioned for her to move.

"C'mon, Snowflake. Time for you to meet your maker, and for me to get paid."

Weiss tried her best not to show any fear, but knew she was failing miserably. With shaky legs, she rose to her feet, then started to walk, Torchwick behind her and Neo in front. The whole time, she tried in vain to place a glyph, but it was no use – with her aura completely drained, there was nothing she could do. She was unarmed, aura-less, alone, and surrounded by her worst enemies. The thought sent a chill down her spine.

She was going to die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

But at least she could deny them the satisfaction of breaking her. The thought made her stand up a bit straighter. She was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and Huntress-in-training. She had stared death in the face once before in her life, as well as every night after in her dreams. Whatever they did to her, she would take it. If she was going to die, she would do so with dignity.

After a minute of walking, they stopped. Weiss took the opportunity to look around. They were at what appeared to be an old military base deep in the Forever Fall. The base looked to be from the Great War – it was made out of concrete that had discolored and chipped with age and the elements. It was marred with graffiti, and overgrown with weeds. The sole signs of life were the lights leaking through the windows, as well as the small array of vehicles lined up outside.

That, and the small army of Faunus that had gathered to see her arrival.

There had to be at least thirty of them. Upon seeing her, many of them began to jeer and hurl insults towards her; several more whipped out their scrolls and began taking pictures and videos of her. Weiss blinked, but otherwise didn't react.

She refused to give them the satisfaction.

Next to her, Torchwick shifted.

"Neo, keep an eye on Snowflake and make sure the animals don't try anything. I'm going to give our acquaintance a call."

The diminutive girl nodded, drawing a bit closer to Weiss. Roman pulled out his scroll and stepped in front of the heiress, a smirk on his face.

"Say 'cheese'."

He snapped a picture, no doubt to prove that he had her. Then he brought his scroll up and dialed a number. It rang exactly once before being picked up.

"Yes, it's me," the thief said. "Yes, yes, I know you're not happy to hear from me, and trust me when I say the feeling's mutual. But I have something you _will _be happy to learn about."

He paused, then brought his scroll down and tapped on it, no doubt sending the picture. After a few seconds, he brought it back up to his ear.

"I take it you're satisfied?" The person on the other end said something, and Torchwick grinned widely. "See, this is why you're my least un-favorite person to work with in your little group – you make sure to pay on time. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Eddy. Oh, and I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that little lost silver-eyed pup you told me about. I trust that you're good for it."

Weiss heard the person on the other end let out a loud growl, but Torchwick ended the call and pocketed his scroll before turning back to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fresh cigar, then placed it in his mouth and lit it.

"Well, Snowflake, I'm sorry to say that this is where we part ways." He took a long drag, pausing only to blow smoke in her face. Weiss blinked, but otherwise didn't react. "I'd say it's strictly business, but given how you messed up my plans back there, I think it's a bit more personal than that. Anyhow, you're officially not my problem anymore." He stepped back towards the airship, waving at her as he did so.

"Good luck, kid. You're in for a long night."

He had barely stepped foot onto the Bullhead when the crowd of Faunus surged forwards, no doubt desperate to get a piece of her. Weiss flinched, then closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable to happen.

"Stop."

With one word, all the sound around her died. Tentatively opening her eyes, Weiss saw the crowd begin to part as one man strolled through them. He appeared to be a lizard Faunus of some kind, if his scale-covered tail was any indication. The man was dressed in surgical scrubs; Weiss noted that they looked to be covered with dried blood already.

The man took several steps towards her before stopping, then placing one hand on his chin as he leaned forward and examined her. Doing her best not to shrink under his gaze, she instead leered at him. He blinked, then turned back to the crowd.

"In the absence of the branch commander and his second-in-command, I have the authority here," he announced. "I have decided that I shall work on her tonight, at least until one of them gets back."

Weiss expected the crowd to protest. They had been out for her blood just a few seconds ago, so the fact that one man had seen fit to exercise dominion over her should have made them all angry.

The fact that it didn't filled her with worry.

His announcement made, he turned back to Weiss, a predatory grin cutting across his face.

"Well then, I suppose we should get to it," he announced before picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder, then beginning to walk into the compound. As an afterthought, he added, "Oh, my name is Leon Urodela, by the way. You would do well to remember it, as we are going to have plenty of time to get acquainted tonight."

He threw open the door leading to the inside of the building, chuckling softly as he did so.

"I can already tell you're going to be a fun one to break."

* * *

Leon walked for several minutes, traveling up three flights of stairs before arriving at the top of the compound. Once on the top floor, he approached a heavy steel door and unlocked it, then stepped inside and locked it behind him. With that done, he stepped forward and deposited Weiss into a chair, then secured her in place with several straps that had been bolted onto it – one around each ankle that secured them to two of the chair's legs, and one around each wrist that secured them to the armrests.

When he was certain that she was secured, he turned and walked off into an adjacent room. Weiss heard him rummaging around for something, but ignored that in favor of looking around the room she was currently in. It was bare and featureless, aside from a large light hanging directly over top of her. Cameras were set up all around, and it didn't take much for her to imagine why. The floor sloped downwards slightly, leading to a drain in the center… one which, she noted with no small amount of horror, appeared to have spots of dried blood surrounding it.

If she wasn't already certain about what was going to happen to her, being put into this room had definitely confirmed it.

And it was only confirmed further when Leon returned, pushing a cart with several different medical implements on it. Weiss saw several needles, knives of various lengths, a hammer, vials of Dust, pliers… she felt herself shiver.

Torchwick hadn't been lying when he said that the night would be long.

Leon grabbed a knife from the tray, then approached her. Weiss felt her heart skip a beat… but he merely cut her gag loose, freeing her mouth.

She took the opportunity to glare at him. "You won't get away with this," she spat.

His only response was to chuckle. "My dear, I have gotten away with it more times than I can count. Tonight will be no exception."

The Faunus pulled a remote from his pocket, pointing it at the array of cameras and pressing a button. Red lights came on for all of them, indicating they were now recording. He pocketed his remote, then turned back to her.

"State your name."

The heiress glared at him. "Fuck you."

He backhanded her for her defiance, but aside from a soft grunt, she didn't reply. He returned her glare with one of his own. "You are Weiss Schnee."

"And you are Leon Urodela, recording from the middle of the Forever Fall, in a base built during the Great War, in which there are approximately thirty-"

He slapped her again, this time hard enough to make her bite her tongue. Weiss felt blood in her mouth and turned, then spit it at him. Most of it missed, but a few globs landed on his scrubs.

Leon was unfazed. "Very well, I suppose we can get right to it if you are so inclined."

Once again, he brought his knife up. Weiss felt her heart leap into her chest, but the pain never arrived. Instead, he merely began to cut away at her clothes, tearing off strips at a time. After a minute, she was left clad in only her underwear.

He paused, admiring her body with a lecherous grin on her face. Disgust welled up within her at the sight of it.

"Not bad," he said. His gaze drifted down to her chest. "Let's get a better look, shall we?"

He brought the knife down again, and Weiss suddenly felt cool air hit her chest. She shivered involuntarily, both from the chill and from the stare he was giving her.

The lizard Faunus wasn't done, though. His gaze traveled even lower, and Weiss felt her eyes widen. She struggled in her chair, but it was no use. A second later, and she was completely bare.

"That's more like it," Leon said.

Despite the promise she had made to herself earlier, the heiress found herself forced to blink away tears. He must have noticed, because his grin grew even wider.

"Don't worry, my dear – that will come later. For now, we're going to have fun in different ways."

He turned, approaching the cart full of surgical tools. Placing his knife down, he peered over the other implements, uncertain. "Hmm… _this _is always a good time."

Leon picked up the hammer, then approached her. Weiss did her best not to focus on it as he came closer.

He stopped just inches away. More blood had filled her mouth, but this time, she didn't even think about trying to spit at him.

"Now then," he began, "why don't you look over towards one of those cameras and explain exactly how the Schnee Dust Company treats its Faunus workers?"

Weiss hesitated. "...Information gained under torture is often-"

"Wrong answer."

With that, he brought the hammer down on Weiss' left knee. A sickening crack filled the air, followed by her screaming in agony. Tears flowed down her face and sobs racked her body as the pain came jolting through her leg, radiating out in waves, each one worse than the last.

Leon gently grabbed her by the chin and angled her face up so they were looking each other in the eyes. "Shh, shh..." he said gently. Once she was somewhat calm, he smirked.

"Now, would you like to try again?"

He gently pressed down on her shattered kneecap with the head of the hammer, causing her to cry out in pain. Weiss thrashed, trying to free herself, but it was no use. After several seconds, he finally relieved the pressure on her knee and let her go.

"Answer the question, my dear," he said. "Unless you want me to break the other one."

Weiss sniffled, trying to regain her composure. With her leg screaming at her, it was nearly impossible, but she managed. She wasn't going to give this sick fuck the satisfaction of breaking her. "T-the SDC… values all its… workers..."

He frowned, tutting. "And here I thought you were a smart girl."

Again, he brought the hammer down. The pain came again, this time in the other knee. Another scream tore its way from Weiss' throat, and her tears came back once again. Rather than capitalize on this, Leon returned to the cart, putting down the hammer and grabbing a syringe, then coming back to her.

"You aren't making this easy on yourself," he said. Cocking his fist back, he brought it forward, clocking her across the jaw. "The pain will stop if you just say what I want you to." Another hit, this one to her stomach. "No need to be so stubborn." A third, again to her face.

And so it went. For the next minute, Leon brutalized her, striking her wherever he thought would hurt and disorient her the most. By the end of it, Weiss was a mess of bruises, unable to say much of anything through the swelling and the pain.

Her tear-filled eyes began to darken, and her posture relaxed. Unconsciousness, it seemed, would be merciful to her.

Through the midst of the blackness creeping along the edges of her vision, she was able to see him leaning forward to examine her. Again, he tutted.

"That won't do – we can't have you blacking out before the real fun has started." He brought the syringe up, taking the cap off and flicking the needle. "Here – a little something to cure what ails you."

The needle plunged down, jabbing into her right thigh. Immediately, Weiss felt her eyes open wide. Her breathing became rapid, as did her heartbeat, and the blackness dancing on the corners of her vision disappeared. She sat bolt upright, the pain in her body quickly beginning to fade.

In front of her, Leon smiled widely. "Do you like it? It's morphine – good stuff. Unfortunately, you can only have one – any more would cause an overdose, you see, and I wouldn't want to end our fun together so soon by doing that. Of course, now that I've dulled your pain, I'm going to have to get a bit creative with how I play with you." He sighed. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to begin with _that."_

Even with her mind hazy from the morphine, Weiss still felt a pang of horror when he began to remove his belt. Frantically, she thrashed around in her chair, trying her hardest to free herself, but even if the drug hadn't made her lethargic, it would have been impossible.

Leon paused, grinning when he saw the terrified expression on her face. "Don't worry, my dear – I promise it will only hurt a bit."

Again, tears stung at her eyes. He inched closer, and Weiss did her best to focus on something, _anything, _that would distract from what was about to happen.

She wasn't sure if she was imagining things or if the drug had taken a greater toll on her mind than she initially thought, but in that moment, she could have sworn she heard several loud bangs from just down the hall…

* * *

The forest passed by in a blur, leaves crunching beneath her feet as she ran as fast as her legs could take her. It was a race against time, in more ways than one – obviously, Weiss would be tortured and killed if she took too long, but at the same time, she ran the risk of running out of aura before getting there, which would make a rescue attempt impossible.

A Beowolf emerged from the foliage, darting in front of her. Without breaking stride, Red pulled her scythe from her belt and removed the monster's head with a single swing, then kept on running. She had been forced to deal with several Grimm already, and not always as efficiently as she had liked; the group of Ursai that she had stumbled across had taken most of her pistol ammo, leaving her with just one magazine, which she currently had loaded in the gun. Meanwhile, her rifle had plenty of ammo left, but only one spare mag of Gravity Dust, the rest having been used to take care of the airships or to get her out of the way of tough Grimm she didn't want to waste time fighting.

After several more minutes of running, light began to stream through the trees. Quickening her pace, Red burst into the clearing, stopping when she saw the concrete structure. Her eyes narrowed, and she immediately began to search for an entryway. There were a few immediately apparent – the front door was obvious, as was the car port and loading bay. However, her experience with breaching military bases had taught her that the obvious entrances were the most well-guarded. If she breached there, she would be starting a fight immediately, and her first priority was making sure Weiss was fine. Fighting could wait until after she had made sure that her friend wasn't dead.

Looking around, she finally spotted it: a reinforced steel door towards the top of the compound, leading towards what had obviously once been a fortified position for a machine gun nest or sniper hide. Now, it was barren, with only old sandbags indicating what it had once been used for.

Compared to the alternatives, it was perfect.

Stealthily, Red approached the building, taking care to avoid being spotted. She stopped, looked up at the door to judge the distance, then reached for her rifle. It would take most of her remaining Gravity Dust ammo to get to the top, and it would naturally alert everybody to the fact that there was an intruder, but it was worth it if she could bypass the guards and get a few free seconds to search for Weiss.

Taking a deep breath, she began to fire. Nine rounds came out as fast as she could pull the trigger and work the bolt, and by the end, she was on top of the building. Shouts came up from all around her; she didn't have much time. Ejecting her sole remaining Gravity Dust round, Red placed it in her pocket and swapped the spent magazine with one of Fire Dust, then collapsed her scythe and pulled out her pistol before breaching the door.

The interior hallway was lined with doors similar to the one she had just burst through. Each one was going to have to be searched, and she was going to have to be quick about it. Approaching the first door, Red held her pistol at the ready, then reached for the knob.

A muffled scream from down the hall caught her attention. She froze, her ears standing at attention. In moments, the wolf was off running. Arriving at the door, she tried the knob, only to find it locked; wasting no time, she blew the hinges off the door with two shots, then kicked it in.

The first thing she saw was a man in surgical scrubs standing over a naked, terrified Weiss, his belt in his hands. He looked at her in surprise.

The next thing she knew, she was slamming his head into the concrete wall as hard as she could, over and over. He struggled in her grasp, but it was no use; blinded by rage, Red wasn't about to let him get away. With every impact, his struggles grew weaker. She lost count of how many times she bounced his skull off the concrete around the time that the struggles finally ceased completely, but she wasn't satisfied. He had tried to do something unspeakably horrific to her teammate, and for that, he would pay.

One final slam burst his skull open like a grape. Blood, chunks of bone, and gray matter splattered against the wolf Faunus, and against the wall. She wiped the viscera from her face, then let the lifeless corpse fall before rushing over to her teammate. Weiss looked up at her in surprise, blinking away her tears.

"Red…?"

The wolf nodded, drawing her knife and cutting Weiss' restraints away. "I'm getting you out of here."

"Y-you found me…?"

"Yeah." With Weiss finally freed, Red sheathed her blade, then pulled off her cloak and gently wrapped it around her friend. The heiress clutched it tight, drawing it around herself to try and cover her modesty. "Can you walk?"

Weiss shook her head. Red was nonplussed. "I'll carry you, then. I'm not gonna leave you here, I promise."

The two made eye contact for the first time since meeting. Surprise flashed across Weiss' face.

"Silver…?"

Red felt a pang in her chest, but shook it away. "That's not important right now. Come on, we have to-"

Footsteps from just outside the room caught her attention, causing her to draw her gun and whip around. Two White Fang members rounded the corner, pausing in surprise when they saw her. Red wasted no time in firing off the six shots left in her handgun, aiming two shots to the chest and a shot to the head at each of them; both fell in the blink of an eye, holes blown out the backs of their skulls and gore leaking out. Red reached for a replacement magazine, grunting in annoyance when she was unable to find one. Holstering her pistol, she turned back to Weiss, who was staring in shock at the dead bodies in front of her.

"Hey, stay with me," Red remarked, snapping her friend out of it. "You remember initiation?" Weiss nodded. "Okay. Here, climb on."

The wolf turned around and bent down in front of her teammate, allowing Weiss to settle onto her back and wrap her arms around her neck. Red grunted at the extra weight; with her aura weakened, her strength was severely diminished. To make matters worse, there was no easy way out – Weiss was in such rough shape that she didn't want to risk jumping off the building, especially with only one Gravity Dust round, and especially since the White Fang would likely just chase them down using the vehicles outside; with her aura being so low, she would run out long before they reached Vale, leaving them both easy prey.

That left only one option.

Unfortunately, her scythe wasn't it – with her aura this low and with Weiss on her back, it was too dangerous to both of them for her to use; getting in close risked taking a stray bullet or two, and she couldn't afford that right now. Instead, Red approached the fallen White Fang members, then grabbed one of their abandoned guns. It was a weapon she recognized – a standard Atlesian assault rifle, though one loaded with two magazines taped together jungle-style. She checked the chamber, then cast a glance over shoulder.

"Keep your head down."

Weiss said nothing, but lowered her head slightly. Taking a deep breath, Red cautiously stepped out into the hallway, then looked towards the stairs.

She was just in time to catch another pair of Faunus as they rounded the corner.

The wolf wasted no time in shouldering her rifle and letting off a long burst. Rounds pinged off the two Faunus, and after a moment's hesitation, they began to return fire, shouting something to their comrades below them. Red ducked back into the room to avoid the gunfire, the whole time feeling her heart start to pound.

Bullets impacted all around her; the scent of spent Dust began to fill the air, mingling with the smell of blood from the three men she had already killed. Behind her, she heard Weiss start to whimper loudly. The air suddenly began to chill…

Red bit her lip hard, snapping herself out of it. Now wasn't the time to lose control; there was someone much more important than herself on the line.

Outside, she heard the gunfire start to taper off, followed by cautious footsteps. Dropping down into a crouch, Red spun around the corner, then fired off several more shots. This time, the two Faunus didn't get away; both fell to the ground, holes in their chests. One of them died immediately, but the other laid there, a bullet having pierced just above her lungs. She writhed on the ground, gurgling and clawing at her throat as she gasped for air, her lungs beginning to rapidly fill with blood, drowning her.

Despite herself, Red couldn't help but stop and stare at the dying woman, focusing on her death rattles the entire time. The only thing that snapped her out of it was a bullet pinging off her aura; she returned the favor with a trio of rounds from her own rifle, driving her opponent back. From the sounds of things, he had retreated down the stairs… the same stairs that she was going to have to take. No doubt that several White Fang were down there, simply waiting for her to try and rush down there. Unless she thought of something, she was stuck.

Below her, the injured Faunus gave one final gurgle before finally freezing, her hands falling away from her throat and her eyes glassing over. Red's gaze fell to her… and settled on the three grenades she was carrying on her belt. Wasting no time, Red took the entire belt off the dead woman, then crept over to the stairs. On their own, these grenades would serve as a good distraction. Together with a little something extra, they would be more than enough to take care of at least a few White Fang. It almost certainly wouldn't get all of them, but it would help tip the odds in her favor a bit more.

Red pulled off her satchel, then began to stuff magazines into her pockets and chest rig. Once she had put in as many as she could possibly carry, she gently let Weiss off her back and put her behind a nearby wall, then took the belt of grenades and looped it around the satchel and remaining magazines, securing it tightly. The ex-assassin counted to three in her head, pulled the pins, and tossed the entire improvised explosive down the stairs.

There were several surprised shouts, followed by an ear-splitting explosion. As fast as she could, Red charged down the stairs, gun at the ready.

From the looks of things, there had been about eight White Fang members in this room. Now, two of them were in pieces. Two survivors from across the room struggled to their feet, their aura somehow having barely managed to protect them; Red spent the rest of her rifle's magazine killing them both, then replaced it with the spare taped to it and continued on her way. The other four quickly rose to their feet, bringing their weapons to bear against her. Red quickly dove behind a nearby wall just as they began to unload on her position, dumping rounds towards her in the hopes of taking her out.

A series of clicks told her that they had run dry. Hurriedly, she spun around, bringing her borrowed rifle up to her shoulder… only to immediately duck down when she found a double-barreled shotgun pointed at her. Dropping her rifle, Red quickly drew her knife, launching into a series of stabs. The man's aura broke, and with a final stab to his jugular, he was down. Red grabbed his shotgun just as another man rushed her, this one armed with a sword.

The swordsman swung, but Red met his slash with her knife, blocking it. With her other hand, she swung the shotgun, striking him across the head with the barrel. He recoiled from the hit, giving her just enough time to fire off one of the two shots held in the weapon, which broke his aura and sent him sprawling. As he struggled to his feet, the gunmen finished reloading; Red frantically looked around for something to use, and upon noticing that the swordsman was wearing a bandoleer of grenades, her decision was made.

She rushed forwards, dragging the man to his feet and standing behind him, the shotgun pointed at his head. He held his hands up in surrender, and the other White Fang paused, unsure of what to do. For a moment, nobody made a move.

And then Red reached over the man's shoulder, pulling the pins out of his grenades before roughly shoving him towards his comrades and diving for cover.

The man went up in a shower of gore, one that sent a massive shockwave reverberating through the room. Once again, the area was filled with smoke. Red rose to her feet, following the groans and coughs, shotgun at the ready. As she moved through the smoke, a woman rose to her feet in front of her. Their gazes met, the woman's eyes widening behind her mask, and Red wasted no time in grabbing her by the throat and slamming her up against a nearby wall before shoving the barrel of the shotgun against the bottom of her chin and pulling the trigger. The top of the woman's head exploded, painting the wall behind her with a collage of blood, skull fragments, and brains.

Red let the corpse drop from her grasp, throwing the empty double-barrel away in the same motion. The smoke was starting to clear, making things visible enough that she could make out the shape of two other White Fang rising to their feet through it. She rushed towards them, her knife drawn, only to be forced to roll out of the way as one of the men leveled a belt-fed machine gun in her direction. He held down the trigger, shouting the whole time; Red was forced to dive between cover to avoid the onslaught of bullets.

There was a lull in the barrage of bullets, and Red wasted no time in dashing out from cover using her semblance, getting up close and personal with her knife. The man tried to fight back, but it was too close for his weapon to be of any use. At this range, Red had free rein.

Her knife flashed through the air, each hit taking a chunk from his aura. He feebly tried to defend himself, attempting to wrestle it from her grasp or throw a punch, but it was no use – he was tired, and his strength had been drained from the explosives. He was at her mercy.

Finally, his aura broke. Red lunged forwards, her knife slipping between two of his ribs. The man fell to his knees, a choked gasp escaping him. Red was quick to finish him with a stab through one of his eyes and into his brain.

There was no time to relax, as someone roughly tackled her from behind. They landed with her on her back and her attacker – another woman – standing over her, a knife pointed downwards. Red's weapon, meanwhile, had slipped from her grasp in the struggle. Reaching out, Red grabbed hold of the woman's arm, trying to keep her from bringing the knife any lower, all while she tried to force it down.

The two struggled, Red's strength doing little to help her given the lack of leverage she had. The wolf struggled, but it was no use. Slowly, the knife began to inch downwards. Desperate, Red blindly reached out for something she could use. After a few tries her hand closed around something – the grip of her most recent kill's machine gun.

Red swung the gun, hitting the woman in the head. Dazed from the heavy blow, she released her hold on the wolf, who scrambled to her feet and leveled the gun at her attacker. The woman had just enough time for her eyes to widen before Red held down the trigger, almost cutting her in half with the stream of lead. Eventually, the gun clicked empty; Red discarded it, and upon seeing that the eighth man had been eviscerated by her grenade, simply moved over to where she had abandoned her borrowed assault rifle and picked it up, then went back for Weiss before continuing on her way.

Something crunched beneath her feet as she walked. She looked down, and through the smoke, she was able to make out that she had just stepped on someone's dismembered hand. She moved her foot off of it, then froze.

A gold wedding band, barely visible through the layer of ash that covered it, stared up at her.

Instantly, a bolt of pain lanced through her head. The wolf winced, clutching at her head with one hand. Again, she found it impossible to avoid focusing on the overpowering stench of blood in the room. She felt herself begin to shiver involuntarily. Blinking, the entire building was replaced with a snow-covered base in Atlas.

"Keep it together..." she muttered to herself. "Come on..."

She pressed on, her legs shaking. Swallowing the bile that had risen up in her throat, Red pressed herself against the wall, gun at the ready, as she listened in for any signs that people were coming. She stepped into the next hallway; her bomb had apparently knocked some wires loose that had started a small fire here, as it was filled with smoke.

Through the smoke, she was able to make out the sounds of feet crunching over broken glass. Bringing the gun up to her shoulder, the wolf let off a long burst; several shouts rang out, a few of them cut short as the people behind them were cut down. Some attempted to return fire, but their muzzle flashes merely gave her more targets to shoot at. Squeezing off several more rounds, the wolf was rewarded with two more shouts of pain before her gun clicked empty. Discarding the spent rifle, Red looked around for a spare weapon, but she was unable to find anything nearby.

A fresh round of gunfire came through the smoke. With no other option, Red tore her collapsed weapon from her belt and shifted it to its scythe form, using it to deflect most of the bullets. Behind her, Weiss whimpered in fear, and Red again felt pain lance through her head. Pushing it aside as best as she could, she once more took aim at the muzzle flashes and fired. This time, there was no further gunfire.

Moving onward, Red found that she had killed another six soldiers. She had no idea how many soldiers there were in the compound, but it didn't matter. She would cut through as many as it took in order to accomplish her objective.

Swapping her weapon's magazine for a fresh one, Red looked over the weapons left scattered on the floor, searching for something that would help her clear out the final areas of the compound. Unfortunately, she was unable to locate any explosives. Grimacing, she reached for a discarded semi-auto shotgun, and after filling it up with shells from its dead owner's bandoleer, placed it on the magnetic plate on her back. Turning back towards Weiss, she sighed.

"I'm going to clear the final floor," she said softly. "I can't take you with me just yet, but I'll make sure none of them get to you."

Bending down, she gently set Weiss on the ground, leaning her against a nearby wall. The heiress let out a loud cry when her legs made contact with the floor, causing Red to wince. Looking around, Red found a machine pistol lying on the ground; picking it up, she offered it to Weiss.

"You know how to use one of these?"

Weiss didn't respond; she was too busy staring at Red's scythe, an expression of sheer terror on her face. Red looked away, her face falling. Gently, she reached for Weiss' hands, closing her fingers around the grip of the machine pistol.

"If someone does get past me somehow, shoot them. Don't hesitate; they won't."

She was tempted to ask if Weiss understood, but she knew she wouldn't get an answer. She cast one last glance over at her friend, then turned and began to move towards the staircase. The wolf readied her scythe, took a deep breath, then sped down the stairs using her semblance.

Gunfire greeted her as soon as her feet made contact with the floor. Red paid it no mind, instead speeding over to the nearest enemy. He was surprised when she so quickly closed the distance, though his surprise lasted for only a moment before his head was cleaved from his shoulders.

One down, fourteen to go.

The next two fell much the same – Red dashed over to them, and after quickly breaking their aura, took their heads. Upon seeing this, several soldiers broke rank, turning and beginning to run away. She cut them off before they could get to the exit, slamming into several of them and knocking them back, then finishing off each one with a shot from her sniper rifle. The Fire Dust bullets exploded on contact, leaving four more either dead or dying, large chunks blown out of their torsos.

Something landed on the ground next to the wolf, and she had only a split second to realize that it was a grenade before it went off, throwing her several feet back and into a wall. The ex-assassin felt what was left of her aura break, and swiftly rolled to the side to avoid the incoming torrent of gunfire. She peeked out of cover to fire a shot at a nearby soldier who had been unfortunate enough to also get caught in the blast, blowing one of his legs off at the knee. He howled in agony as he rolled on the ground, his exposed femoral artery spurting blood.

Red took aim at her next target, only for her weapon to click empty. Grimacing, she pulled the mag out, but didn't get any time to slide in a replacement before another grenade landed next to her feet. Without hesitating, she picked it up and threw it back where it came from. There was an explosion, followed by a loud shout of surprise; dropping her rifle, Red drew her borrowed shotgun and spun around the corner just in time to send a two-ounce slug through a man's chest. He fell to the ground, lifeless, just as the rest of his comrades again began to unload on her. The pillar she was hiding behind provided adequate cover, but she had no way to move.

Pain rocketed through her left arm, and Red bit back a hiss. Chancing a look, she saw blood welling up through two holes in her bloodstained white shirt – a through-and-through, one that had luckily missed any bones. She couldn't risk trying to go for another shot with her rifle, not when they were all bearing down on her like this. Her fortune may have held, but she wouldn't get lucky like that again. She needed to do something, and fast. What she needed was something that could either clear the room or get them to keep their heads down. She wished she had saved some grenades from earlier; now, in the absence of real explosives, she would have no choice but to improvise.

With no other options, Red began to pull out the remaining magazines of Fire and Lightning Dust she had saved from her earlier improvised bomb. There were four in total – two Fire, two Lightning, each holding ten shots. It was bitter, having to use the last of her ammo like this, but she didn't have much in the way of choice. Hopefully it would be enough, and hopefully her aim was true.

She rounded the corner, picking up a magazine of Lightning Dust in one hand and taking aim at what looked like soldiers, but which she knew weren't. She threw the mag, waited for it to soar directly over top of them, then shot it with her stolen gun. The magazine erupted in a blinding flash of light, scattering bolts of electricity every which way. Those who were caught in the blast were stuck in place as thousands of volts of electricity surged through their bodies; the rest either dove for cover or recoiled from the shock and the bright light.

Seizing her opportunity, Red threw another, this one a mag of Fire Dust. It went up in a loud explosion and a bright cloud of smoke. Through the smoke, she could make out the vague shapes of men lying on the ground, likely disoriented rather than dead. Before they could get up, she threw the last two mags. This time, those who were on the ground stayed down.

Out of all the men that had been fighting her, only about four were left standing. They shakily rose to their feet, guns in their hands. Red spun out from behind her cover and fired twice, hitting one in the head and another in the neck; the former died immediately while the latter fell to the ground, clutching at his wound and writhing around in agony as he choked on his own blood.

She turned her weapon on one of the remaining two, but it clicked empty. Both men raised their guns at her, but before they could fire off a shot, she threw her gun at one of them, knocking his aim off. The other one fired off a burst, but Red had already picked up her scythe off the ground and started deflecting his rounds as best she could in such a short amount of time – an impact followed by a burning pain in her shoulder was proof that she hadn't caught them all, as was a smaller pain in her right eye that forced her to tightly close it, but that didn't matter. She had succeeded in getting close enough to take care of him.

Her first swing cut his gun in two. The man dropped his now-useless weapon and staggered back, falling onto his rear. Before Red could finish him, the other man recovered, bringing his gun around to face her; she ducked out of the way of his burst of gunfire, then drew her knife and threw it, hitting him in the hand. He yelled in pain, his SMG slipping from his grasp and clattering to the floor below. He tried to run, but he wasn't fast enough. By the time he had turned and started to sprint away, the wolf had caught him. One swing took his legs off at the knees, leaving him writhing on the ground, clutching at what was left of them as he rapidly bled out.

And then there was one. Red turned around, only to find that he had managed to scramble away, and also to scrounge up a scoped rifle from somewhere. He was pointing it at her with shaking hands.

"D-don't move!" he screamed, his voice trembling with fear.

Red ignored the soldier, taking a step forward. He fired off a shot, and she blocked it with her scythe. Frantically, he worked the bolt, but Red had already taken off running towards him. He dropped the gun and tried to run away, but it was no use. Within moments, she had intercepted him and speared him through the chest, lifting him up off the ground with the sheer force of her strike before bringing him crashing back down onto his back.

He clutched at his injury, choking the whole time as he died. His mask slipped off, and the two made eye contact. He was young, around Coco's age if she had to guess. Red felt a pang in her chest and forced herself to look away, then pried her weapon from his chest. He choked as the blade tore him open, blood pouring from the massive wound. Within seconds, it was all over – he blacked out from the blood loss, and only a short time later, his chest rose and fell for the last time.

Red looked at the dead man for a moment in shock. Slowly, she brought one bloodstained hand up to rub at her good eye, then opened it again. The snow vanished, as did the winter chill, screaming wind, and dead soldiers. In their place was death – blood, spent Dust propellant, fallen White Fang, and ringing ears from all the noise.

Red looked around the room, surveying the carnage. Fifteen people had been waiting for her here. Now there was just her, surrounded by a field of mutilated corpses. She swallowed the vomit that had risen up to the back of her throat, then turned and took a step over towards the stairs, her legs shaking due to the two bullets she had taken as much as they were due to her mental state. She felt in a daze, as if nothing that had just happened had truly been real, even if she knew better.

This was who she was – a killer, and nothing more. She had spent months trying to deny it, but there was no longer any doubt in her mind. This massacre just proved it, beyond any reasonable doubt.

She made it a few steps towards the stairs when she paused, her ears standing upright. Red spun around just in time to block a shotgun blast with a twirl of her scythe. Dropping into a combat stance, she stared at her opponent.

"You certainly don't disappoint," he said, stepping through the sole entryway. He cast a glance around the room, frowning as he did so. "You know, these were good men and women. Yet you don't care, do you? You butchered them all the same."

He stopped about twenty feet away, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. Behind his mask, a single blue eye glared at her.

"Almost told me about you," he stated. "Said that you were one of the best. Your track record certainly proves it. Remind me again, how many people did you kill while you worked for us?"

Red didn't give him a response, both because he didn't warrant one and because she had lost count some time ago. His mouth tightened, as did his grip on his sword.

"Still, seeing you now, I'm disappointed. He made it sound like you were some formidable fighter, capable of tearing down people many times your age through sheer skill and bloodlust. But looking at you firsthand, all I can see is a wild animal that needs to be put down." With his thumb, he pushed his sword out of its sheath slightly, causing her to tense. "And once I'm done with you, I'll move on to the Schnee bitch."

Red's eyes narrowed, her grip on her scythe tightening to the point that her knuckles whitened. The man in front of her smirked.

"It's a shame Blake couldn't be here as well."

That left no doubt, then – this man was Adam Taurus. Commander of the Vale branch of the White Fang, terrorist with a trail of bodies large enough to rival Red's own… and the man who had abused Blake.

That was enough.

Red charged in with a shout, her scythe at the ready. At the last second, Adam drew his sword, blocking her swing. The two traded blows for several seconds, neither one able to get a solid hit in on the other. After a few clashes, they both leaped away. Adam sheathed his sword before standing tall, while Red hunched over, winded. Her lack of aura as well as her injuries were starting to take their toll.

Across from her, Adam smirked. "Is that it?"

Red tensed, then took several steps forward. Adam again rested his hand on his sword, then began to mirror her steps. The two began to circle around each other, both of them looking for an opening. They moved at the same time… though only Adam went for a strike. He drew his sword and slashed at the same time Red dove for something on the ground; he cut deeply into her right calf at the same time her hand closed around the grip of a discarded machine gun. Ignoring the pain in her leg, Red whipped around, gun in one hand, and let loose with a yell.

Adam tried his best to deflect the rounds, but they were coming out too fast for him to do so. Several high-caliber rounds bit into his aura, forcing him into cover. Red continued to lay on the trigger, uncaring of how her ammo supply was rapidly diminishing or how the barrel of the gun was starting to glow red-hot – so long as it kept him in cover and bought her a few seconds to breathe, it was worth it.

Dropping her attention back to the ground, Red found a large-bore revolver laying close by. She moved over to it, then as fast as she could, she tore her pistol from its holster and threw it away, then replaced it with the gun on the ground. Adam again poked his head out, and she was quick to keep him in hiding with another spray of lead from her machine gun.

She got another couple of seconds before the gun had finally had enough, the barrel bursting out the side. Tossing the useless weapon aside, Red brought her scythe up, just in time to block an incoming strike from the bull Faunus. Again, the two exchanged blows, neither one managing to actually hit the other.

Once more, they separated, then began to circle each other. Adam stared at her, then smirked.

"Not bad," he admitted. "Unfortunately for you, Almost had me study how to counter scythe users in case you ever showed your head again. I know all your tricks."

Red's gaze shifted down to his sheathe. Part of the blade was exposed, ready to be drawn… and from what she could see, it was glowing. She had no idea what that meant, but she doubted that it was good for her. Whatever it was, she was going to have to be prepared. Luckily, she had caught on to something in their last exchange.

Adam seemed to have a blind spot in his left eye. Whenever she attacked from that angle, he was slower to react, less precise. It was almost as if he couldn't see her there, and was instead being forced to listen to her. He didn't seem to notice he was doing it; either there was something else at play or he was really good at feinting.

In any case, with this next exchange, she would find out.

Again, she charged towards him. Their blades met, though this time, Red allowed her scythe to slide down his sword, letting her get in close for a right hook to his left side. To her surprise, she made contact… and was forced to quickly dodge out of the way to avoid a slash that would have taken her head off. If Adam expected her to run away, he was mistaken; now that he knew she was aware of his weakness, he would never let her pull the same trick again. She was going to have to take advantage of it while she could.

To that end, when Adam went in for another slash, Red deflected it with her blade, then let it drop free as she tore the revolver from its holster. Adam's eyes widened when she leveled the barrel square at his face and fired off five rounds as fast as the double-action trigger would allow. He recoiled from each hit, giving her enough time to move in and leap onto his back. Red locked her arm around his neck, then pulled him to the ground, intending to choke the life out of him.

He surprised her by continuing to roll, managing to shake her loose. She was forced to roll out of the way just as his sword came down towards where she had once been. Frantically, she pointed the gun at him once more, firing off the final shot in the cylinder at his midsection. The round disoriented him enough for her to scramble back over to her scythe, which she used to block his incoming flurry of slashes. It was her battle to lose, however – she was becoming fatigued, and Adam knew it. She blocked one final slash, but rather than go for another one, he instead raised his sheath, firing a shotgun blast out of it that hit her in the chest and sent her flying back into a wall.

The bulletproof plate in her carrier caught the shotgun pellets, but she felt several of her ribs break under the pressure. Disoriented from the breath being knocked out of her, she almost didn't notice when he drew his sword, the blade beginning to glow brightly. Eyes widening, she managed to jump out of the way just in time to avoid a gigantic beam that cleaved its way clean through layers of concrete, cutting a large slice open to the forest outside and filling the area with a thick cloud of petals and dust.

Shakily, she rose to her feet, trying to focus through the dust. Coughing, she squinted, looking for any trace of Adam. She was able to see him standing there, hunched over, clearly exhausted. A bright light surrounded him before flickering, then fading – whatever he had just done, it had taken him the remainder of his aura to do it.

A sudden pain in her leg caused her to jolt, and she looked down at it. Her dive had aggravated her injury, and it was now bleeding profusely. Hastily, Red tore off her pistol belt, then wrapped it around her right thigh before pulling it tight.

A few seconds later, and the dust began to clear. Both combatants stared each other down, panting heavily. Adam again rested his hand on his sword, and Red tightened her grip on her scythe.

Whatever she thought of, it was going to have to be good. Adam may have used up all his aura, but he was still completely uninjured and nowhere near as exhausted as she was. If he wanted to, he could simply wait for her to bleed out from her injuries. Her next move was going to have to be carefully planned, because it was likely to be her last.

She was just about to take a step forward when she paused, remembering something. Her hand drifted to her pocket, and her heart began to pound when she felt it.

The Gravity Dust bullet from earlier.

It wasn't much, but it was the best shot she had. Carefully, Red pulled the bullet from her pocket, then dropped it in her scythe's chamber and closed the bolt. She looked at Adam once more, then took a deep breath before exhaling slowly.

Then, she was running, as fast as she could without her semblance and with one leg bound by a makeshift tourniquet. Adam saw her coming from a mile away and tensed, waiting for her to get close to retaliate.

He was completely taken by surprise when she angled her scythe behind her, then fired off a shot. She went from limping ahead to rocketing forwards, spinning in the air like a buzzsaw as she went. He managed to draw his sword just as she made contact, and the two traded blows. There was the sound of steel cutting through flesh, and then Red's mad dash ended. She landed several feet away in a heap on her stomach, uncertain about what had just happened.

And then she heard Adam let out a loud, pain-filled shout.

She cast a glance over her shoulder, eyes widening at what she saw. Adam's left arm was lying on the ground, severed from the rest of his body at the shoulder. The bull Faunus was clutching at his new stump, doing his best to stem the tide of blood, but to no avail. He turned around to face her, teeth bared in a snarl.

He may have been dismembered, but he was far from dead. Taking his sword in his one hand, he began to slowly advance towards her, intent on finishing her off anyways.

The sound of a Bullhead engine from outside caught his attention. He glanced through the gash he had made in the wall, baring his teeth at what he saw before turning back to Red.

"This isn't over," he promised.

Then, to Red's surprise, he sheathed his sword before picking up his severed arm and heading towards the door, rapidly disappearing into the Forever Fall. The wolf watched him go for only a second before realizing that things may have just gone from bad to worse. If that Bullhead carried reinforcements…

She didn't allow herself to finish the thought. They wouldn't be allowed to get to Weiss. Slowly, the wolf tried to push herself to her feet, only to find that something was weighing her down. Confused, she cast a glance towards her feet.

She found her intestines spilling out of her torso, ending in a small pile on the ground below her.

The instant she saw it, the pain arrived. The wolf bit back a loud yell, then shook her head. Injured or not, she still had a friend to protect.

She scooped up her intestines in one hand as best as she could, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from screaming. Counting to three, she tried to push herself up off the ground, barely managing to succeed. The wolf stumbled forward, looking for something she could use. Several feet away, she spied a discarded SMG and began to limp over to it, leaving a large trail of blood behind her the entire time. Reaching it, she allowed herself to collapse before gathering the weapon into her free hand, then rolling onto her back and leaning against the nearest wall, which happened to be right next to the stairs. The whole time, black continued to creep onto the edges of her vision.

Red wasn't a medical expert by any means, but even she knew that she was rapidly dying. Between the pain and the blood loss, it was only a matter of time before she went into shock. Once that happened, it was the end for her. By her estimate, she had maybe a minute left, probably less.

But until she lost consciousness, she would fight with all she had to keep Weiss safe.

She had spent five years killing, and two of those were for a cause she had long since stopped believing in. The least she could do to atone for it was die for something that was worth protecting.

The gun would slip from her grasp when it was finally time for her to go, but no sooner.

Red blinked, and to her surprise, images began to fill her head. They were nothing like the ones from earlier, though. These were different – reassuring, calming… loving. Her friends were there – CFVY, JNPR, Blake, Weiss… and more importantly, the family she had turned her back on was there, too. There was her dad, looking at her with pride, as if he didn't care what she had done. There was Yang, a wide smile on her face, simply happy to see her.

And there was her mother, arms outstretched as if welcoming her with a loving embrace.

Red sighed, hanging her head low as a haze began to settle into her mind. Tears formed on the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." she gasped out, coughing out a glob of blood in the process. "For..."

Try as she might, the words wouldn't come; she was too weak to talk. Still, the meaning was there – she was sorry for ever turning her back on her family, for joining up with the White Fang in the first place, for killing all those innocent people, for hurting Weiss…

For lying to Yang.

Tears dripped from her eyes. Yang… the blonde would never know the truth, would she? Red had promised to tell her once she got back, but it was looking like she would never get the chance. It was sad… but somehow, Red knew that if Yang was aware of why that was, she wouldn't mind.

Compared to Weiss' life, Red's was worth nothing. Even if Yang knew the truth, it wouldn't change that. In Red's mind, this was a fair trade – one innocent life for one burdened with sin. As sad as it was that Yang would never know the truth, it was still better than Red living and Weiss dying.

Red's thoughts were interrupted by footsteps, as well as shouting from just outside the door Adam had fled through. Shakily, she raised the gun with her one free hand, aiming it towards the door as best as she could. Between the shrapnel in her right eye and the blood loss making her hands quiver, it was unlikely that she would even hit anything, but she didn't care. Every second spent finishing her off was one spent keeping Weiss alive. And so, she focused on the door, expecting more White Fang to burst through.

She was surprised when Coco, of all people, came in instead. The two locked gazes, Coco freezing in shock for a second. Then, she was running, her minigun having been tossed away as she rushed over to Red's side.

"Someone, help me!" she called.

There were more pounding feet, and suddenly the rest of her team was there. All of them were looking at her in shock, but they were quick to act all the same. Yatsuhashi sheathed his sword, then leaned forward to try and pick her up. Red writhed in his grasp, trying her hardest to form words that were stuck in her throat. After several tries, they finally came.

"Upstairs… Weiss… help first…"

Coco's eyes widened in understanding. "Jaune, get in here! Weiss is upstairs!"

"Got it! C'mon, guys!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Red saw Jaune and his team race into the building, accompanied by Professor Goodwitch. Yatushasi again moved to pick her up, and this time she didn't object. Hurriedly, he began to carry her out of the compound; once they were outside, she was able to see that he was taking her over to a Bullhead. Red could see that the cargo bay was open, and there was a large medical team there along with lots of equipment, all of them being overseen by Headmaster Ozpin.

Yatsuhashi turned, and through the blackness creeping into her vision, Red saw a flash of white behind them. Focusing, she was just barely able to make out the figure of her friend being carried by Professor Goodwitch. Red felt herself relax. The gun slipped from her grasp, and her vision began to fade.

Red Canis took her final breath just a few minutes after Yatsuhashi carried her into the Bullhead.

* * *

"What are we looking at?"

"Multiple gunshot wounds, broken ribs, severe lacerations to the right calf and torso."

"Okay. What's her blood pressure?"

"Fifty over thirty-five."

"Shit… okay, call ahead and tell the hospital at Beacon to prep for a Code Blue. Get her on fluids and start working on fixing up that cut in her stomach. I'll get compressions started."

Weiss felt one of her legs scream in pain, but she ignored it. She was too focused on watching her teammate to care about what happened to her.

They were all on the airship, en route to Beacon. It would take several minutes before they arrived, and until then, the medical teams Ozpin had brought with him were limited in what they could do. Most of the team that had been intended for Weiss was instead focused on keeping Red from dying in the airship.

And from the looks of things, they were failing.

The wolf Faunus was covered in blood, most but not all of it belonging to herself. Her skin was extremely pale, and it was nearly impossible to even see her breathe. IV drips of blood and plasma had been hooked up to her – seeing it, Weiss couldn't help but think that her teammate was on life support.

Someone squeezed her hand, and Weiss looked to her side. Nora was there, her normal demeanor gone and replaced with one of determination.

"She'll be okay," the hammer-wielder said.

Weiss knew she was just putting on a brave face. The truth was, everyone in the airship was terrified for the wolf, from her to Ozpin.

The doctor finished working on her knees, then stood up and brushed himself off. "I've done all I can for now," he reported. "I've taken the liberty of having one of the nurses call ahead and inform the hospital. You'll be going in for surgery as soon as we land. Until then, the pain shouldn't be as intense."

Weiss nodded. She should have felt more concerned at the prospect of being operated on, but all her concern was being directed towards her teammate at the moment. Compared to what Red was going through, this was nothing.

She watched as one of the doctors started to give Red CPR. Everyone tensed. If they were giving her CPR, then that meant only one thing.

"Come on, kiddo..." Coco muttered. "Don't die on us..."

Coco's words hit her like a sledgehammer. Weiss knew her teammate was dead – not dying, already dead; the fact that she was receiving chest compressions was proof of that – but the sheer magnitude of the situation hadn't hit her until now. Weiss looked down at the floor, her head swimming.

She didn't know what to think. Red had been her friend for weeks, her teammate for months. The wolf had saved her from her own prejudice, from bullies, and from being raped, tortured, and murdered on camera by terrorists. At the same time, Weiss couldn't deny who Red really was.

It was almost too ridiculous to be true, for several reasons. The odds of her would-be murderer not just being in the same school, but being in the same year, in the same team, in the same _partnership, _were nothing short of astronomical. And then there was the issue of Red's skill. Clearly, there was some connection with the White Fang, but what was it? Hadn't Red been trained by her mentor? Had that just been another lie, the same way she had apparently lied about her eye color? What other lies had she told?

More importantly, what was their relationship now? Weiss had once considered Red a good friend… but could she still, when Red had not only almost killed her, but had also caused her so much pain over the past two years?

What brought Red to Beacon, and why? What was her relationship with the White Fang? Did she still want to kill Weiss? There were too many questions, and no answers.

And if Red were to die, there would never be any answers.

Raising her head, Weiss stared at the wolf Faunus once more. The blood had stopped pouring from her wounds… but she wasn't sure if that was because the doctors had succeeded in stopping it or if it was because her heart simply wasn't pumping blood anymore. Her shirt had been torn open to allow the doctors to look at her injuries, and through all the blood staining her torso, Weiss could vaguely make out what appeared to be a tattoo, though she couldn't tell what it was.

Another question to ask, then.

One of the doctors threw up his hands in frustration. "Any blood we give her is just ending up on the floor. It's been almost five minutes – the odds of her waking up at all are slim, and if this goes on any longer, she'll have brain damage. If she's not awake in the next few minutes, I'm calling it."

"You will do no such thing," Ozpin said sternly.

"Sir, we're running out of O negative blood as it is. We can't afford to use it all on-"

"You can, and you will. You will continue to work on her until we land at Beacon, including giving her all the blood you have stocked on board if that's what it takes. I don't care if she flatlines and stays that way, the only ones who will be calling it are the surgeons currently at Beacon. Until then, do your job."

The doctor exhaled, but nodded. "…Yes, sir."

Weiss let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Vaguely, she was aware of Coco glaring at the doctor and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Asshole', but her mind was too hazy to process anything besides what was happening to Red.

The doctor that had been giving her CPR stood up, taking off his breathing mask and passing it on to another doctor to take over while he took a short rest. Immediately, the other doctor got to work, resuming the breaths and compressions while everyone watched with apprehension. A loud snap suddenly filled the air, causing Weiss to jolt.

"It's alright," Ren said. "People often suffer broken ribs when they receive CPR. That just means they're doing it right."

"Correct," Ozpin said. "There is nothing to worry about."

There was _everything _to worry about, but Weiss didn't say that aloud, both because it wouldn't have helped anything and because she was still too in shock to speak.

The seconds continued to tick by, and with every one that passed, the odds of Red waking up diminished even further. Her skin got paler, her lips got bluer…

Ozpin checked his watch, then closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Weiss felt her heart drop into her stomach. The headmaster hadn't said anything, but he didn't need to. The message was clear.

And if he was giving up hope, then…

Weiss hung her head, tears filling the corners of her eyes. Red may have been an assassin, but-

Up on the operating table, the wolf Faunus suddenly seized. Through the clear breathing mask the doctor was wearing, Weiss could see that her team leader had just vomited from a chest compression. She heard Coco shout Red's name, but to her surprise, the doctors were unperturbed; they merely turned Red onto her side, then began to scrape the bile out of her mouth. One of them pressed two fingers on the side of her neck, and...

"I've got a pulse!"

_Everyone _relaxed. Some of them – Ren and Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha, Coco and Velvet – exchanged hugs. Nora even came up and hugged Weiss once she let go of Ren. Even the professors looked relieved, with Goodwitch cracking a small smile.

"It seems Miss Canis isn't ready to leave us just yet," Ozpin observed. "Let's hope it stays that way."

The rest of the airship ride was uneventful, though everyone made sure to keep a close eye on Red. As soon as they touched down at Beacon, every doctor except for one rushed her out of the cargo bay and into the hospital. The one remaining doctor took Weiss' wheelchair and began to push her out of the airship.

Outside, Yang and Blake were waiting for her.

"Weiss!" Yang called, running up and embracing her. "Oh, thank the gods you're okay! What happened?!"

Weiss hesitated. "...Red saved me, but… Yang, I found out that she's..."

Yang froze. "I… I know…"

"And… did you see her-"

"Her eye? Yeah, I did."

The doctor cleared his throat. "You can talk later. I need to get her into surgery immediately."

The blonde nodded. "Okay. We'll go with you."

"You can't-"

"They can't be in the operating room, but I see no problem with allowing them to wait outside," Ozpin said. "Their team has been through a lot tonight. They shouldn't be split up just yet."

The doctor relaxed. "Alright. Stay close, and don't touch anything."

Yang and Blake nodded, and then they all set off.

The whole time, they were all praying that Red would be okay.

* * *

"And you're sure it was her?"

Penny nodded. "Positive, Father. Aside from her hair and eye color, the physical description matched, as did her weapon. I have no doubts that it was her."

"If you're sure, then I will call up General Ironwood. Did you get video footage of the fight?"

"Yes, Father."

"Good girl."

Penny beamed at her father's praise. "Thank you, Father!"

What she was doing almost felt wrong. At one point, she had considered Red her friend. In fact, she still considered Weiss, Blake, and Yang to be her friends. She had even gotten a chance to hang out and do friend activities with them! But alas, if Red was truly a criminal of the caliber that her father and General Ironwood claimed she was, then Penny's hands were tied.

Friend or not, helping to apprehend the two assassins had been one of her prime directives, assigned to her at creation. They were her reasons for living – her main missions in life, aside from trying to live like a normal girl and providing data for her father and the General.

Still, as she sent the archived footage directly to General Ironwood's scroll, Penny couldn't help but hope that he took it easy on Red.

From everything she had read, child soldiers were supposed to be treated leniently, after all.

* * *

**Oh man, this one was nuts to write. Probably some of the most fun I've ever had writing fight scenes. I just love getting to really show the gnarly side of combat – the show itself does a really good job showing how stylish and artistic fighting can be, but I happen to enjoy the dirty and violent side of it just as much, if not more so. Obviously, this chapter tends towards the latter, especially the scene in the base.**

**As a side note, I hope I've done a good job of making my wound descriptions sufficiently nauseating. This is basically the only kind of story where doing so actually fits the tone I'm going for and doesn't come off as forced, so I realized early on that I was going to have to go all out. You should have seen me in the planning stages - "Ah shit, research for this one is gonna be fuckin' gnarly".**

**Now then, let's move away from that bullshit and really break things down.**

**So, this is obviously the end of V1 in terms of the timeline. It's taken a long time to get here, but it's finally here. I've kind of been following canon somewhat up until now, but you can expect to see that completely go out the window past this point. A few events may look familiar, but I'm going to be changing things up with them so they're not going to really _be _familiar, if that makes sense. I'm making it my mission to absolutely fuck with canon from here on out, so expect a lot of changes.**

**With that out of the way, let's break down the thing I know you all want me to, shall we?  
**

**So, the first big secret is going to come out. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally going to happen. I won't divulge too much about it just yet, but feel free to place your bets. I expect there'll be a lot of interesting responses, so I just have this to say: the way it's going to go down will depend heavily on just how close you think Red's relationship with her team is. That's obviously in the eye of the beholder, but if I've done my job right, what I'm saying should make sense when you see it.**

"**But Minaris, what about the _other _thing? You know, the one that involves Yang? Is that going to come out, too?!"**

**You really think someone would do that, just reveal a big secret to the rest of the cast while simultaneously holding back a secret that's arguably even bigger and more world-shattering? Why, I am shocked, shocked and offended by these baseless accusations. I mean, I'd have to be a real asshole with a _real _love of dramatic irony to do that, and I _definitely _have not professed my love of said literary device to many of you before via PM, no sir.**

**Okay, shitposting aside, I'm sorry to say that I can't tell you, because I'd rather keep that a secret. Please understand. I _will _say that keeping all these secrets is getting pretty fucking old, even to me, so if it doesn't happen in the next chapter, expect to see it happen _very _soon after. And that's all I have to say about that.**

**See you all next time, for yet another chapter that I've been dying to publish since I first started my rough drafts for this shit back in November 2018.**

**Also, one more thing I need to address: I will likely have to take a hiatus after a few more chapters. I know that 'hiatus' is a dirty word on this site for a few very big reasons, but I'm not doing this for no reason - it's come to my attention that I REALLY need to work on what will be the second half of this fic, because it has been very sparsely planned in comparison to the first half, and it's looking like it'll turn out to be trash fire if I don't.**

**That being said, I want to be as transparent as possible if I do go on hiatus. If you're ever concerned about how work on this story is progressing during the hiatus, please feel free to drop me a PM, and I'll tell you how it's going. Rest assured, I will not be canceling this fic - it _will _be finished, even if it takes a bit longer than I initially wanted. I will be working on this fic until it's done, and I won't be posting any new long-length stories (that is, nothing that isn't already being posted, or that isn't a one-shot) until this one is finished. I want this to be a priority, and I absolutely want to complete it. But I also want to make it the best story I possibly can.**

**So that's basically my piece said. If you have any questions about the hiatus, feel free to send me a message and I'll explain about it a bit more. Otherwise, I hope to see you next time for what will be a very eventful chapter.**

**Next update: Saturday, June 20.**


	16. Chapter 16

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 16

* * *

Ozpin stared at the scroll in his hand as it rang. He had been expecting this call, of course – the nature of what had transpired meant that eventually, this would have to happen. He just wished that it had happened at a more opportune time.

Because as it was now, he had just barely gotten back to his office after making sure Miss Canis and Miss Schnee made it to Beacon's surgical wing.

The two of them were in dire straits, Red more than Weiss. Weiss had managed to keep it together up to the point where her teammates had been forced to break away from her as she went into the operating room, and after that, she had completely fallen apart. Sedating her had been a mercy more than anything, both for the physical pain and for the mental distress.

Miss Canis, on the other hand…

Of course, she had yet to wake up. In fact, when he last saw her, her heart rate had started to plummet once more, and she was once again close to flatlining.

The scroll continued to ring in his hand, eventually prompting his assistant to give him a concerned look.

"Are you going to get that?" Glynda asked.

Ozpin's brow furrowed. Truthfully, he didn't want to; today had had enough excitement already, and he didn't like the thought of holding one of his student's fates in his hand without them knowing. But at the same time, this had to happen.

Wordlessly, Ozpin picked up the call, then brought the scroll up to his ear.

"James."

_"Oz," _the General replied. _"I think you know what this is about."  
_

Never one to mince words, as always. "I can guess," Ozpin replied. "It involves a student of mine, yes?"

_"If you'd prefer to think of her that way. Personally, I'll call her what she actually is: a terrorist. A spree killer. A psychopath. Any of them fit better than 'student'. Frankly, I'm surprised you're still willing to call her that. You do know who she really is, don't you?"  
_

"I have my suspicions."

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. _"Ozpin, I know you don't want to do this, but be reasonable. You know who she is."  
_

"Not for sure, I don't. I'd much prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt until I get some answers."

_"You have them. Penny confirmed it was her."  
_

Ozpin sucked in a breath. If Penny had confirmed it, then it had to be true. Given that the gynoid's prime directive was to hunt down the assassins that had been terrorizing Remnant, she of all people would know what to look for.

"How can you be sure?"

_"Apparently, Penny matched her __approximate __height and weight to the __person on our files __ages ago, __not to mention her Faunus trait,__" _Ironwood explained. _"But __Penny __was thrown for a loop by the killer having changed her appearance and choice of weapon. __However, once she saw the assassin use her scythe at the docks, she knew. To my knowledge, there are only two s__cy__the users currently active on Remnant, and we all know who one of them is already. That only leaves one option."  
_

Ozpin's mouth tightened. He hadn't wanted to believe it. Red was his student, and she deserved the benefit of the doubt.

"_I think you know what comes next," _Ironwood said.

Tentatively, Ozpin nodded. "You want to come take her into custody."

_"That's putting it lightly. I want her under lock and key immediately. She can't be given the chance to escape, not before we've had a chance to question her about the White Fang."_

"And what happens then?"

"_What do you think? Once we've extracted whatever information we can out of her, we turn her over to face justice."  
_

"The death penalty, you think?"

"_Truthfully, I don't see how she'd be able to avoid the firing squad. Her crimes are too great."  
_

Out of the corner of his eye, Ozpin caught Glynda staring at his scroll, looking very conflicted. Truthfully, he felt the same way. Red had studied under both of them; they had gotten to know her very intimately, him more so than Glynda. They both cared deeply about the little wolf Faunus.

To see her now, and to know the truth… it was nothing short of heartbreaking to both of them. That a young girl like Red could end up being responsible for so much suffering, and in turn be cursed to suffer herself… it almost felt like there was no justice in the world with how unfair it was.

But even if it was unfair, and even if James wouldn't approve, Ozpin wasn't about to just let her be taken. She deserved to have someone step in on her behalf, because the only other option was to allow her to be taken away without a fight, and without her getting to say her piece personally. And if what he had overheard from her teammates was true, he knew that she wouldn't want that, not before she'd had a chance to tell her friends everything herself.

"I'm sorry, James," Ozpin suddenly announced. "I can't let you have her just yet."

_"What?! Oz, you know-"_

"Let me finish," the headmaster stated, causing his ally to fall silent. "James, you know I trust you. However, in this specific instance, I have to ask you to hold off for a bit longer."

_"You are asking me to delay justice for countless Atlesian families!"_

"I know, and for that, I apologize. But you have to understand that there's still something I need her for."

_"What could possibly be so important that you feel the need to keep her there?!"_

"Simple: she still has some explaining to do," Ozpin replied. Before James could go off once more, he said, "Understand that she has gotten very close to her team over the past few months. They deserve some answers straight from her mouth, wouldn't you agree? She can be kept under lock and key during that time, but I cannot allow you to take her before she's had a chance to explain everything to them, and to me."

"_Have you lost your damn mind?! She's-"_

"Still one of my students, and I will extend her the courtesy she is entitled to as a result of that. Unless you mean to tell me that you think spiriting her away from her friends when she's unconscious and before she's had a chance to explain everything to them will make her more cooperative, that is."

There was silence on the other end of the line. After several seconds, James spoke once more.

_"...Three days. I'll give you three days, Ozpin. But I want her secured the whole time, and even if she's still not awake after that point, I'll be coming to get her. That's all I can give you."  
_

Ozpin frowned. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Slowly, he nodded. "Thank you, James."

The General said nothing in response. After a few seconds of silence, the line went dead. Ozpin didn't spare his scroll a glance before setting it down and looking to Glynda. The two met gazes, and she frowned.

"I don't like this, Ozpin."

Truthfully, he didn't either. Nothing about this was good in any sense of the word. Truthfully, it was a disaster all-around.

Sighing, Ozpin turned towards his computer and pushed the thoughts of his injured students aside in favor of trying to think about how the hell he was going to keep what had happened at the docks and at the compound a secret for at least the next few days.

* * *

Surgery, thankfully, had gone without a hitch. Weiss had been wheeled into the operating room, then given anesthesia before she could be completely overwhelmed by her trauma. The last thing she remembered was staring up into the faces of her surgical team before everything went black. She had woken up several hours later to find her legs in casts and her room empty.

That hadn't lasted for long, as Blake and Yang had quickly burst into the room not even a minute later.

"Weiss!" Yang shouted, running over to her and pulling her into a hug. "Oh, thank the gods… I was so worried."

Weiss returned the hug. "How's Red?"

Silence greeted her. Nervously, the heiress swallowed. "Yang…?"

"...She's alive," Yang said softly. "Alive, but in rough shape."

"How rough?"

The blonde hesitated. "...She's in a coma. They don't know when she'll wake up, if she wakes up at all…"

The two broke the hug, Yang pulling back from the bed to stand next to Blake. Weiss noticed that the cat Faunus' eyes were red and puffy – clearly, she hadn't taken the news about their team leader well.

"...When she wakes up, I need to talk to her," Weiss said softly.

"So do we," Yang replied. "Weiss, you may not have noticed, but she had-"

"A silver eye."

The blonde looked surprised. "Yeah. And also-"

"A scythe." Weiss paused. "...Yang, I know that it seems strange to say, but I think she might be-"

"Stop," Blake said quietly, cutting her off. "...Please, don't say that," she begged. "We… we shouldn't assume the worst just yet. Let's give her a chance to speak for herself."

Yang gently put a hand on her shoulder. "...Alright, Blake. We'll wait until she wakes up."

Silence settled over the room for the next several minutes. Finally, Weiss couldn't take it anymore. She cleared her throat.

"How is everyone holding up?"

Yang frowned. "...Not well," she admitted. "Blake and I are both taking it poorly. Coco's team is a mess right now – Coco hasn't left Red's bedside since she got out of the operating room. Apparently, she feels guilty that she didn't get there earlier. It's not her fault, but..."

She took a breath. "...Jaune and his team aren't doing much better than we are. Ren and Nora are both wrecks – apparently, seeing the aftermath of the fight reminded them of something from their past, though neither one will say what. Pyrrha was pretty shaken up by the state the bodies were in – from what Jaune said, the first thing she did after getting back here was run to the bathroom and start throwing up, and she's still feeling pretty sick."

A beam of light suddenly landed on Weiss' face, taking her by surprise. Looking over towards the window, she saw the sun cresting over the horizon.

The heiress turned back to Yang. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," Yang offered. "You got out of surgery pretty quick compared to-" She cut herself off, then shook her head. "...Anyway, all they needed to do was put your knees back together with some pins, then sew you back up and let your aura do the rest. The actual surgery only took about two hours; the anesthetic just kept you out cold for a while. Oh, before I forget."

The blonde reached into her pocket, pulling out a small bottle and offering it to Weiss. "Head surgeon told me to give these to you. They're painkillers – you're going to be in a lot of pain for the next week or so, so he told me to give you these."

Weiss took the bottle, turning it over in her hands. Her gaze settled on the label.

_Morphine sulfate._

Leon's face lanced through her head, a lecherous grin cutting across it as he pulled off his belt, then leaned in, reaching out with one hand to try and grab her breast.

Instantly, the heiress dropped the bottle, pulling her arms around herself as she started to hyperventilate. Yang was at her side immediately, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Shh, shh..." Yang said gently. "It's alright."

Weiss fell into her friend's embrace, and slowly, she started to relax. After several minutes, she finally pulled away, leaning back in her bed and directing her gaze to the floor. Hesitantly, Yang stood over her, unsure of what to think. She opened and closed her mouth several times, as if unwilling to ask the question that Weiss knew was at the forefront of her mind. Finally, the blonde shook her head and steeled herself, and in a small voice, spoke.

"What happened in there, Weiss?"

The heiress flinched as the memories came back once more. Again, she felt her heart rate skyrocket; this time, when Leon's face filled her head, she was quick to push it away with happy thoughts rather than dwell on it. After a moment, she felt well enough to speak.

"...Torchwick captured me and sold me to the White Fang," she muttered. "He handed me over to one of their leaders, who tortured me, then tried to…"  
She trailed off. Again, Yang pulled her into a hug. Weiss relaxed into it, and this time, didn't try to break free.

"...Red saved me," she said softly. "She arrived just in time, then she..."

"I get it," Yang replied, her voice gentle. "You don't have to say any more."

"T-thanks…"

A few feet away, Blake hung her head. "...I'm sorry," she blurted out. "If I hadn't been so blind, then maybe-"

"Don't," Weiss said sternly, making her flinch. "Going to the docks was my idea, too. Don't blame yourself."

"But-"

"_Don't," _she repeated. "This isn't your fault. Okay?"

Blake hesitated, then nodded. "...Okay."

Yang hesitated. "...I'm sorry too, Weiss," she admitted. "Jumping down to fight the White Fang was my idea. If I hadn't done that, then-"

"Then a lot more people would have died," Weiss interrupted. "Yang, please. This isn't your fault, just like it isn't Blake's fault. I don't blame you for what happened, and you shouldn't blame yourself."

Yang looked reticent to accept that, but reluctantly did so anyway, nodding along with what Weiss was saying. It was clear that her fears weren't completely assuaged, but at the very least she could now see that Weiss wasn't trying to dwell on what had happened.

The three of them found themselves in silence once more, though this time, it was anything but uncomfortable. After all that they had been through over the course of the previous night, it was good to just… relax, and take in each other's company.

Finally, Weiss sighed. "...I don't know what to think," she said.

"About what?" Yang asked.

"Red."

Again, there was silence. After a few moments, Weiss continued, "I thought we were friends, but that was before..."

"...She's been here for months," Blake pointed out. "If she is who you're afraid she is, then she had every opportunity to try and kill you."

"I know," Weiss admitted. "I just… don't know what to make of it. Clearly, she's not with the White Fang anymore, given how she slaughtered her way through an entire base of them just to get me out. But why? Is it really just because I'm her friend?"

"Does she need another reason?" Yang asked. "She almost got expelled for you, Weiss."

"I know, but..." Again, Weiss sighed. "Something is up with her. I could see it with how she carried herself. Whatever was going through her head, she wasn't all there."

Yang and Blake exchanged a glance. "...We noticed that towards the start of the year," Blake said. "What does it mean, though?"

"I don't know… but I don't think it's nothing. I think, whatever it is, it's connected to everything else."

"Then we'll ask her," Yang said, determined. "Back at the docks, she promised me and Blake some answers – about her scythe, her silver eye… this is just one more question. When she wakes up, we'll make sure to get them from her."

At that, Blake and Weiss nodded in agreement.

It was strange. A few weeks ago, and Weiss would have written off her team leader the moment she pulled out her scythe. Now, though… now, Red deserved at least the benefit of the doubt, and not just because of how she had nearly gotten herself killed trying to save Weiss. The heiress had come to value their friendship, and even if it was built on a lie, Weiss simply couldn't believe that it was all fake.

No matter what happened, she would hear Red Canis' side of the story, both to get some answers and because her friend deserved at least that much.

* * *

The first thing she was aware of was a steady beeping coming from beside her. Groaning, the wolf Faunus slowly cracked open her eyes… though only her left eye was letting her see anything other than black. Everything came rushing back, and in an instant, she was trying to touch her eye with her hand, only to find that it was locked in place. Turning her head, she found her right arm had been handcuffed to her bed. Suddenly feeling hollow, Red felt her eye with her left hand instead, letting out a small sigh of relief when she found it was merely covered by a bandage instead of completely missing.

Once that was done, she took a look around. She was in a hospital, probably at Beacon if she had to wager a guess – there was a window, but the blinds had been drawn, and she couldn't see anything out of it aside from the rays of sunlight spilling through the small cracks between the blinds. The entire room was almost completely colorless, with everything being dyed some shade of white. Various machines and IV drips – saline and electrolytes, it looked like – were set up around the room, all leading back to her.

Looking under her covers, Red found that her clothes, weapons, and armor were missing, either having been taken from her or lost during her raid on the White Fang bunker. Instead, she was clad in a hospital gown. Panic surged through her when she realized that whoever had dressed her had seen her scars… but it died when she remembered what she had said to her team back at the docks.

She had promised to talk. Maybe at some point she could have avoided the hardest part of that promise, but now, there was no way – Yang had seen her eye; even if it was now covered up by a bandage, she wouldn't forget that it had been silver… but more importantly, Red simply couldn't do it anymore. If she had died, Yang would have spent the rest of her life searching for her sister, never knowing that it would all be for nothing. As much as it would have hurt for Yang to hate her, it was still better than leaving the blonde to be damned to a lifetime of futilely searching for a dead girl.

She had been prepared to take her secret to the grave, hoping that Yang would understand… but having to actually face the reality of what that entailed was too much for her. Red refused to cause her sister so much pain, even if it was for a good cause.

She wasn't going to lie anymore. As painful as it was going to be for her to admit, Red was going to have to tell her sister everything.

The door to her room opened, and Red tensed, expecting her team. She was surprised when Ozpin stepped in instead, a mug of cocoa in hand. He turned to face her, blinking in surprise when he saw her staring back.

"You're awake," he observed. "I expected you would come to eventually, but not this soon. Still, your timing is impeccable."

Red opened her mouth to speak, only to break into a coughing fit thanks to the inside of her throat feeling like it was made out of sandpaper. She looked around for something to drink, her gaze settling on a bottle of water to her right. She tried reaching for it, but her hand being bound prevented her from grabbing it. Mercifully, Ozpin stepped over, taking the bottle and uncapping it, then passing it to her. The wolf drank greedily, draining the entire bottle in just a few seconds. She wiped some excess water from her lips, set the bottle aside, and turned towards the headmaster.

"How long was I out?"

"Three days. You're very lucky."

"Weiss is the lucky one, not me. I got there just in time."

"Miss Schnee wasn't clinically dead for several minutes," Ozpin replied. "I don't think you understand, Miss Canis – your heart stopped not long after Mister Daichi carried you onto the airship. You weren't breathing. The doctors managed to resuscitate you, but if you had been without oxygen for even a minute longer, you would have likely suffered permanent brain damage."

"It doesn't matter," Red declared. "Is Weiss okay?"

If Ozpin was surprised to see how she had disregarded her own life in favor of Weiss', he didn't show it. "Miss Schnee is fine – she got out of surgery not long after arriving at Beacon and was discharged from the hospital a few days ago. She's confined to a wheelchair for the next few days and is very shaken, but is otherwise healthy." He took a sip of cocoa. "Frankly, she, along with the rest of your friends, is more worried about you than herself."

Red exhaled, directing her gaze away from Ozpin and down to her legs. "...She shouldn't be. None of them should be."

"And why is that?"

"Don't act like you don't know." The wolf lifted her right hand up as high as the handcuffs would allow. "I know I'm being locked up like this for a reason. They told you all about what they saw, didn't they? You know exactly who I am, which means they do, too."

"Your point?"

"Why am I still alive?" Red spat. "You know about the things I've done. You had the chance to let me die, or failing that, kill me yourself while I was out. Even if you didn't want me dead, you could have handed me over to Atlas before I had a chance to wake up. Instead you healed me and strapped me to this bed. You're showing a lot of trust to someone who you ought to be treating as your enemy, Ozpin. What's your angle?"

Ozpin stared down at his mug, swirling the liquid inside around. "Your past notwithstanding, you are still one of my students at the moment. I will not be taking any further actions until I have the full story from you."

"You know it already, Ozpin. I spent time hunting in your city, too. Not nearly as much as I did in Atlas, but you're still perfectly aware of what I'm capable of, no doubt."

"Your capabilities don't tell me everything about you. I've seen your scars."

"That's all you should need, then. My torso tells you everything about my past."

To her surprise, he shook his head. "I wasn't talking about the scar on your torso, nor your other assorted battle scars. I think you know exactly what I mean, even if you're reticent to state it outright for whatever reason."

Red paused, staring at him in shock. Slowly, her ears flattened against her head, and she looked away. Ozpin sighed, then retrieved his scroll and typed out a message before putting it away.

"Glynda will be here shortly. She will be bringing all of your friends with her. It is in your best interest to tell them everything. I will be recording it all on my scroll as evidence."

Oh, she intended to give them the whole story. Nothing would be left out, no matter how painful. The way she saw it, she was a dead woman – Ozpin was going to hand her over to Atlas after this, and she probably wouldn't even get a trial before being summarily executed like the criminal she was. It was a fitting fate, if a bitter one.

She still had unfinished business, after all.

It was just a few minutes later that she heard it – the sound of feet pounding against the floor as a large group of people sprinted towards her location. She sighed, prepping herself for the inevitable.

Even then, when the door flew open, she couldn't help but wince.

"Red!" Coco shouted, running into the room. "Oh, thank the gods! I was so-"

"Stop!" Red said, making them all freeze before they could come any closer. They stared at her, shocked and confused, and she took a deep breath. "...Come in, and close the door behind you. And don't try to get any closer."

"Red-"

"Please."

Coco hesitated, clearly unhappy with the situation. Still, she nodded, beckoning for the rest of them to enter. Eleven people crowded into the room, followed by Glynda. Each of them took up a position across from her, grouped together in their teams. There was barely enough room for them, especially with Weiss' wheelchair, but they did their best to squeeze in.

Red directed her gaze over to Weiss. Their eyes met, and Red quickly looked away.

"...I'm sorry," she muttered. "...I should have been faster. If I had gotten there just a few minutes earlier…" Weiss said nothing. The wolf sighed. "...Just another thing I've done wrong."

Red looked down at her feet, refusing to make eye contact.

"...I know what you're all wondering," she began. "No sense acting like you're not here for that. You want to know if I am who you think I am. If I'm really the one who attacked Weiss, who killed all those people…" Another sigh escaped her. "...Yeah, that's me."

There was a series of gasps – from Coco, from Pyrrha, from Weiss… from Blake. Red grimaced at them all, each one feeling like a knife straight to her soul.

"...I was a fool," she continued, her voice monotone. "Just a dumb kid who got found by the White Fang. Five years old… didn't think to question it when they told me they could train me, make me strong. Never realized that there'd be a price to pay for it. Stupid of me..."

"Red, you..." Blake swallowed the lump in her throat. "Y-you… you were in the White Fang. You're the assassin… I didn't want to believe it, but… Gods, you're the Hellhound..."

Red frowned at the name. "Didn't think I had a nickname. Doesn't surprise me."

"That's all you have to say…?"

She shook her head. "No. No, I have a lot to say. What do you want to know?"

To her surprise, it was Weiss who asked the next question.

"Why…?"

It was barely above a whisper, and shaking with unshed tears. Red chanced a glance up, and found the heiress staring at her, her eyes wide and glistening. Yang had grabbed her hand and was gently squeezing it… the sight of it shouldn't have hurt Red as much as it did. She deserved this, she knew; she deserved to feel this bad for what she had done. She deserved to have everyone against her, her own sister included. She deserved all this and more.

But that didn't change just how much it killed her inside to see Yang against her like this.

Turning her gaze back to her feet, Red sighed. "...Because I'm a monster," she admitted. "That's what it comes down to. They told me to kill you, so I did… tried to, rather. Didn't think to question it."

To her surprise, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Weiss shake her head. Confused, she looked up, only for Weiss to flinch when their gazes met. Red closed her eyes, then looked away when she opened them again. Weiss took a moment to compose herself, then asked her next question.

"...Why did you let me go?"

It wasn't the question Red had expected. Looking around, she could see that everyone else hadn't expected it, either; they all looked just as confused as she was. Still, that wouldn't stop her from answering.

"...Because, awful as I am, there were some things even I couldn't do," Red admitted. "They didn't tell me who I was being sent to kill, just that they were a member of the Schnee family. I expected Willow, or Winter, or Jacques… not Weiss. Not a kid. It shouldn't have been you. It shouldn't have-"

She was cut off by a lump in her throat. Swallowing it, she continued.

"...They tricked me. My mentors, that is. I was a fool to believe them – to think that everyone I had been killing up to that point deserved it like they said. But I never thought to question it; I just believed all the lies they told me, embraced them with gusto because… I still don't know why. Maybe I'm just stupid. Maybe I'm just that much of a monster, that I was just looking for an excuse to kill people. Maybe it's both." She shook her head. "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Fact is, they lied to me, and I was too stupid or too unwilling to dig deeper into what they were telling me to see it for myself."

"That can't be the whole story," Blake protested.

Red was surprised. She looked up, her gaze meeting Blake's. To her amazement, rather than burning with hatred, Blake's expression was filled with nothing but sympathy.

"What…?" Red asked quietly, uncertain about what to think of Blake's reaction.

"I don't believe you," the cat Faunus stated. "That's not who you are."

Red blinked, then shook her head. "You don't know a thing about me. You don't know who I really am."

"Yes, I do. You're my friend – the girl who I introduced to reading, the girl who exercises with me, the girl who became friends with me, the girl who dragged me back to my team when I tried to run away, the girl who willingly went into a bunker full of White Fang just to get one of her friends out, the girl who almost died trying to save someone she cared about. That's who you are."

Red felt something catch in her throat. Slowly, she shook her head. "You're wrong..."

"How am I wrong? That's the real you, I know it. We've seen you do all of those things for ourselves. You're not some monster, you're just a girl who got caught up in something bad. You're not-"

"You don't understand. All of that, it was-"

"Was it a lie, then?" Blake demanded. "Red, look at me. Look at me, and if you can, tell me that all of that – _all _of it – was nothing but a big lie. Because until you can, I won't believe you."

Red flinched, but did as she was told, looking up at Blake. Their gazes connected, and Red tried to force her mouth to work, but it refused to. Something kept her from saying it. She tried for a few seconds, but once it was clear that nothing would come out, she looked away in shame. In front of her, Blake sighed softly.

"That's who you are," Blake said.

"I'm not..." Red muttered.

"You're not a monster, and you know it."

The wolf winced. "That's not true..."

Blake continued. "You're my friend, the same way you're the friend of everyone here. You're-"

Enraged, Red couldn't help but snarl. "I'm not even Red Canis!" she suddenly shouted, cutting Blzke off.

Shocked silence settled over the room, everyone staring at her in stunned confusion. Red stared back, meeting their gazes unflinchingly for the first time. That should have been the end of it, in her opinion.

But Blake continued to surprise her.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked. At Red's silence, she opted to try for something else. "...What happened, Red?" the ravenette asked softly. "Tell us everything from the beginning."

The former White Fang member didn't get it. Why were they still willing to hear her side of the story? They should have been trying to kill her – it was what she deserved. The fact that they weren't… it did nothing but confuse her.

But if that was what they wanted, then she would oblige.

Red closed her eyes. "...Okay," she said softly. "I… I got inducted into the White Fang when I was five years old. I had j-just lost my mother… she died right in front of me, killed by a human. I happened to stumble on some White Fang members who took me in and turned me over to Sienna Khan. She offered me a choice: go back out and risk being killed, possibly even leading the murderer to the rest of my family, or stay with her. She would train me, help me get stronger… all I had to do was help her out. She didn't say with what, and I didn't think to question it..." She shook her head. "...Stupid of me. First mistake of many.

"...So she took me in, and I didn't think anything of it. She set me up with a mentor of my own – the one currently acting as an assassin for her. His name is Edward Almost."

A loud gasp, accompanied by the shattering of porcelain on tile floor, caught everyone's attention. Turning, they found Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch staring at Red, a shattered mug of cocoa at Ozpin's feet. Both of them were quick to collect themselves.

"Apologies," Ozpin said, as Glynda used her semblance to pick up the pieces of mug and mop up the cocoa. He looked to Red. "Go on."

Red looked away once more. "...He started training me to kill when I was five. And when I was ten, he made me put it into practice for the first time."

The images of her first kill flashed through her head, the man's lifeless eyes staring up into the sky, a large hole bored through both sides of his chest and his innards spilling out. Red felt a bolt of pain flash through her mind – a memory of her feelings back then. She pushed it aside; now wasn't the time to dwell on it.

"...He was a White Fang defector, or so I was told. Not like I'd know. But it didn't matter; he died all the same. I shot him from half a mile out and watched him die. First of many..."

"How many?" Ozpin asked.

"...I don't know," Red whispered.

"Do you even know how many you killed a few nights ago, then?" the headmaster asked, causing her to shake her head. He frowned. "Truthfully, we're still not exactly sure. We counted thirty-one at the compound and a few others at the docks, for a total of thirty-six. Does that sound about right?"

The number flashed through her head. Thirty-six people… it seemed like a lot, but she knew that it was only the tip of the iceberg. Between the targeted assassinations and the raids, her actual body count was so much higher.

But, truthfully, it made no difference to her exactly how high it was. The way she saw it, she was standing in an ocean of blood no matter how many people she had actually killed. Even a single person would have been too many for her to consider otherwise.

Unlike her, everyone else in the room seemed absolutely mortified at that number. It made sense – they didn't know just how low she had sunk. Thirty-six would seem like a lot to them, given that they had no way of knowing just how many lives she had taken.

"Thirty-six people..." Coco muttered, sounding almost disbelieving.

Red winced, but nodded. "...I told you, I'm a monster," she said sadly. "Killing people… it was hard at first, but now I can do it without a second thought." She looked down at the floor once again, unwilling to say more but unable to get out of explaining further. "I… I don't know exactly how many… but it's a lot more than thirty-six. A lot more..."  
If they were mortified at the previous number, this new realization left them devastated. None of them seemed to know what to think of her anymore, and she didn't blame them for it.

"Why?" Yang asked sadly. "Do you… do you take pleasure in it? Is it something you enjoy?"

Red shook her head. "No… it's just something I do. Like it's second nature. Hurting people comes easily to me. I want to say that it's because of my training, but I know that's not it." She shrugged. "Maybe I'm just… broken, somehow. Have to be, if I can hurt people that easily and feel nothing afterwards. I-I mean… there's something else, too – s-sometimes, I… I don't know, I just… lose control, I guess. I forget where I am; think I'm back in Atlas, hunting soldiers… don't know what it means; all I know is that it makes me lose it. It feels like I'm suffocating, like if I don't fight with everything I have, I'll die, even if I'm not really in danger… it scares me, and I don't know what it means."

Recognition mixed with surprise crossed Ozpin's face, but it lasted for only a second before fading. She didn't know what to make of it, and neither did anyone else. Instead, Yang stepped forward once more.

"The woman in the warehouse..."

Red heard screams echo through her mind, and nodded once more. "Yes, I… I know what you're talking about..."

Everyone except Blake looked to Yang, uncertain about what she meant. "It was back at the docks, when Weiss first got taken," the blonde explained. "We didn't know where they were bringing her, so Red… well, she decided to find out."

"What did she do…?" Pyrrha asked, sounding as if she didn't really want to know the answer.

Yang opened her mouth to respond, but Red cut her off.

"I tortured it out of someone."

That earned another round of shock from everyone, as if they couldn't believe that the girl they had come to know would so readily admit to having tortured someone for information. Red didn't make eye contact with any of them, but shrank beneath their gazes all the same.

"...I had to know where they were taking Weiss," she explained. "They weren't going to tell me, so… so I took two prisoners – a wolf Faunus and a fox Faunus, both married to each other – and dragged them to an empty warehouse. And then I tortured the woman – the wolf Faunus – by cutting off her fingers until her husband spilled what he knew." She shook her head. "...I don't regret it. Weiss would have died if I hadn't gotten that information. But that doesn't make it okay – doesn't make me any less of a monster for doing it."

None of them disagreed. Red chanced a quick glance up at someone – her gaze happened to land on Jaune – and she found him staring at her, looking like he couldn't even recognize her anymore. She didn't blame him; trying to reconcile who they knew her as with the crimes she had committed… it must have been hard on them all.

Nobody said anything for a while, shocked as they were. Red took that as her cue to go on.

"You asked me exactly how many I've killed… truthfully, I lost count so long ago… I-I mean, they sent me out so often, and there were so many..." Again, she felt a lump form in her throat. "...G-Gods, I'm disgusting… t-they'd send me to people's houses, you know? Make me kill both spouses..."  
Another memory flashed into her mind – of a little girl staring at the dead bodies of her two parents. Red felt tears come to her eyes, but she was quick to blink them away; she didn't deserve to feel sad about what she had done, only only to feel guilty.

"...I killed a little girl's parents right in front of her," Red admitted. "S-she saw me do it. A-and this was after I knew – I _knew _that it was wrong, that they were innocent, b-but I still did it..."

"That's not the whole truth..." Blake admonished softly.

Again, Red was surprised, and it only grew when Coco joined in with a nod.

"Blake's right," the brunette said. For the first time, Red noticed that Coco was softly crying. "There's something you're leaving out, and I refuse to believe that there isn't. What aren't you telling us?"

Red was amazed. She had just confessed to a whole litany of terrible crimes, and had even spelled out why she was a monster. They should have hated her… yet for some reason, they still wanted her to explain herself. She didn't understand them.

"N-nothing..." Red remarked, unsure of how to respond. "I-I mean… what do you want me to say? What could I possibly say that would make this okay?"

"Start with the scar on your stomach," Ozpin interrupted. "Why don't you explain how you got that?"

Red froze. She hadn't expected Ozpin to bring that up. Why would he point out her scar? Shouldn't he have wanted justice for all the people she had killed? He had every right to want her dead. It made no sense for him to bring up her scar – he had to know that doing so would only help her.

But still, he had her dead to rights. She didn't have a choice but to reveal yet another secret she would have rather taken to her grave.

"...I-it's a White Fang insignia," Red carefully admitted.

"And how did you get it? That's not exactly something they give to recruits," Blake said. "In fact, this is the first I've ever heard about the White Fang doing something like that."

"It was a punishment. F-for failing a mission…"

"A punishment?"

"Y-yeah… b-branded onto me, with a heated knife..."

That earned another round of gasps from several people. Looking around, Red found that a few of them – Velvet, Pyrrha, Jaune, even Blake – looked sickened by it. Maybe there were more; she didn't know. She was purposely avoiding looking at Weiss and Yang.

"Why did they do that?" Blake asked. "Which mission did you fail?"

Red was silent for a moment. When she spoke, it was in a hushed whisper.

"...The first mission I ever failed… one of two..."

Everyone instantly knew what she meant, all of them looking over to Weiss. Red saw them do it, and heard Weiss' intake of breath, but didn't dare look at her herself. Instead, she exhaled softly.

"...I wish there were more," she said. "Wish I could say that there were targets I let get away, but there weren't. It would have been worth all the pain in the world if I had let just one more get away, but I didn't. T-there were so many chances to let someone get away, and… and I didn't..."

"You can't say that about yourself," Coco admonished. "You said it yourself – they had lied to you the whole time, so before encountering Weiss, you had no way of knowing. And afterwards, you had to have been terrified of what they would do to you if you had failed."

Red shook her head. "...Doesn't matter. I could have been better. _Sh__ould _have been better. I almost was, but I was too weak." For the first time during the interrogation, she sniffled. "...I tried. Tried to make things right, to do what I should have done a long time ago, but I couldn't – wasn't strong enough. Never would be, because I'm a coward, even though it's what I deserve..."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, her tone taking on a tinge of horror. She seemed to know what Red meant, even if she was afraid to admit it. Everyone seemed to realize something was wrong, and looked to her for understanding. The cat Faunus took a step closer.

"Red, what did you do?"

The question came with no small amount of horror. Red flinched slightly at Blake's tone, but didn't respond, instead simply sitting there. She was ashamed, she realized – ashamed to admit that she had failed in doing something that would have saved lives. So she stayed silent, refusing to answer.

But unfortunately, Ozpin had other plans.

The headmaster rose from his seat. "I think I can shed some light on this," he said softly.

Red simply sighed softly as he approached. She knew what was coming, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Ozpin stopped a short ways away, then reached for her arms, gently taking them in his hands before rolling up her sleeves, then turning them around to reveal to the world.

The effect was instantaneous. There was a sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room. Coco and Pyrrha's hands went to their mouths, and out of the corner of her eye, Red saw that Blake had started to cry even harder.

"G-Gods..." the cat Faunus muttered through her tears.

There was no mistaking what they were. They were battle scars of a different sort – far too even and precise to have been placed by another, and too perfect to have been done in the heat of combat. The thin scars traveled from her wrists up the length of the inside of her arms, stopping at the crook of each elbow. Around her wrists, smaller scars surrounded them – hesitation marks.

For the longest time, nobody said anything, all of them simply staring at the cuts on Red's arms. She didn't blame them for it; all of her scars told a story of some kind, but these spoke the loudest of them all. Seeing them for the first time and having to reconcile the girl they had come to know with the person who carried scars like these must have been hard. She deserved them and more, but even she understood that seeing something like this would be tough on anyone, especially those who hadn't realized just how deep her self-loathing truly went.

Eventually, the silence became too much for the wolf to take, and she sighed.

"...I tried," Red said softly. "After I got back from the mission with Weiss, and got punished by my mentor for failing. I realized that I had been lied to, and that there was no escape; that they would make me keep killing innocent people unless I did something about it… So I took a scalpel from the medical tent I was being kept in, and…"  
She trailed off, but everyone's reactions told her that she hadn't needed to finish that sentence. They all understood her very clearly despite that. Continuing, she added, "But Sienna, she… she found me just in time." She sighed. "...Couldn't do it; I was too weak. Always too weak – couldn't do it with a knife, couldn't do it with a gun, couldn't let someone else do it. Always something keeping me rooted here, even though I don't deserve to live. Eventually, I realized what it was: I still had something to do."

Her tone took on a tinge of rage as she went on.

"Almost and Sienna have to die. Not for me – for the people they've killed, and ordered to be killed. Someone has to do it, and it has to be me. Because I know that once I've gotten them, I'll finally be ready to join them. That will be my final mission."

"Stop!" Blake shouted.

Instantly, Red paused, looking over at her. What she saw made her heart ache.

Blake was standing there, tears pouring down her cheeks and her shoulders heaving with sobs. Red felt tears come to her own eyes, but was careful to hold them back.

"Please, stop..." Blake begged. "Don't say that..."

Red was confused, but not as much as when Coco stepped forward and took off her sunglasses, revealing that she was crying much like Blake was. Stunned, the wolf looked around the room, and was amazed to see that everyone – even Weiss and Yang – was crying. Whether it was just a few stray tears or full-on waterworks, everyone was crying in some way, and the mere sight of it took her breath away.

"Red," Coco began, "d-do you really…" She sniffled. "...Do you really hate yourself that much?"

Red didn't even have to think about her response.

"How could I not? I told you what I've done. This is just what a monster like me deserves."

The fact that her tone stayed even the whole time just seemed to disturb everyone else even more. If there was any belief that she hadn't been completely serious with what she had said, it was now gone. Now, they all knew that she was being nothing less than absolutely genuine, and it left them shell-shocked. She couldn't understand why; to her, it simply seemed like the most natural way for things to progress.

At first, she had wanted to end her own life to save others… but now, she knew that it was to be a punishment for herself. It was too late to save others, but facing justice was something she could still do.

"Then why did you come to Beacon?" Ozpin interjected, before anyone else could recover enough to reply. "If you were so intent on taking your mentors down before taking your own life, why waste time coming here?"

Obviously, he thought he had her trapped, like he had found some other explanation for her actions that might convince the others that she didn't still intend to kill herself, but he was wrong. That question had a very simple answer, one that she had realized a long time ago.

"Because I wasn't strong enough yet," Red replied. "I was supposed to come here, train for four years, and then head back to Menagerie, where I would set off for my final mission. That was it – I was just here to get training." She looked away again. "...F-friends weren't supposed to factor into it," she said, her voice starting to shake. "I w-wasn't… wasn't supposed to make friends – I didn't know how, and didn't deserve them, anyway… but you all didn't know when to quit, you just kept pushing..."

For the first time, she found herself forced to wipe at her eyes. Red paused for a moment, then continued.

"...I wasn't supposed to get close to anyone, not when I was just going to die shortly after my time here was up," she muttered. "Not Blake, and especially not Weiss or Yang… shouldn't have been on the same team as them; shouldn't have been friends with them..."

"Why not Yang?" Coco demanded, catching her by surprise; she hadn't expected her friends – if they still wanted to be recognized as such at this point – would want to say anything else to her. "Weiss I can understand, but why Yang? What does she have to do with anything?"

She was caught, then. But it was no matter; she was a dead woman anyway. And besides, she had already resolved to tell Yang the truth. It would hurt, but it wouldn't change anything; Yang would hate her the same way the rest of them did. There would be shouting, pain, and tears… but the result would stay the same. Red was already marked for death, both by the White Fang and by herself, and nothing would ever change that.

That didn't change the fact that she regretted that one of her final memories would be that of Yang proclaiming her hatred for her, but it was too late to turn back now. And besides, it was ultimately just another form of pain, and Gods knew that she deserved to feel as much of that as possible.

"Y-Yang..." Red stammered. "H-had to avoid Yang… b-because I'm… I'm n-not… who you all think I am…"

Steeling herself, the wolf reached for her one remaining contact lens, pulling it free and letting it drop onto her bed. She blinked a few times to clear her eye, then looked out at the crowd. They all stared back in surprise, even Ozpin and Glynda. Weiss looked afraid, Blake looked confused, and Yang…

Yang looked like she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing.

The blonde stood there in shock for several seconds, stock still and holding eye contact with Red the whole time. Finally, she broke out of it enough to say something.

"Ruby…?"

The word was barely audible, but the effect was monumental even despite that. Everyone immediately turned to face Yang, surprised. Their gaze quickly transitioned to Red, who shrank beneath it and looked away.

No turning back now.

Trembling, Red nodded, then closed her eyes. She wasn't sure what she expected – shouting, perhaps? Maybe some proclamations about how her sister hated her, how she wasn't the same person Yang had grown up with, how her family could never love a monster like her. Perhaps even something more physical – a punch, or maybe even a gunshot. Her expectations, whatever they were, soon ceased to matter.

Reality, as it turned out, was as far removed from them as possible.

"Ruby!"

At the sound of running feet, the wolf's one good eye shot open. She barely had time to panic before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her tightly against their owner's chest. The wind was knocked out of her, though not because she had been manhandled.

Something wet fell onto the top of her head. Judging by the sounds coming from her sister, the blonde was still crying, and even harder than she had been before.

And judging by what Red could hear around her, so was almost everyone else in the room.

"A-all this time…" Yang managed to get out between sobs. "...All this time, you were right here, and I didn't recognize you..."

Red swallowed the lump in her throat. "...Let go."

Yang shook her head. Red felt tears come to her eyes. "Yang, please..."

"No."

"Let me go..."

"No."

"Y-you..." Again, she swallowed. "Y-you… you shouldn't… I d-don't deserve..."

"Please, stop..."

"No!" Red finally shouted. Tears began to spill down her cheeks. "Don't you get it?! I'm a monster! I killed s-so many people! I don't deserve to see you again, or to be near you, or anything!"

"Don't say that."

"It's true! I'm _disgusting, _Yang!" The ex-assassin struggled in her sister's hold, to no avail. "Let go of me! I c-can't be around you!"

Yang shook her head. "No."

"How can you say that when Weiss is right there?! She's your best friend, Yang!"

"You're my sister."

"I'm a murderer! I-"

Red didn't get any farther. She was cut off by Yang pressing her lips between her Faunus ears, the same way her father used to when she was young, before she'd so willingly turned her back on her family's love. Her eyes widened in shock, and she turned, staring up into Yang's face.

Once again, lilac met silver.

"I don't care about any of that," Yang said, her voice shaking. "You're my baby sister, and I love you. I always will. Nothing will ever change that. It doesn't matter what you've done, or how you think of yourself – you will _always _be my little sister, and I will _never _stop loving you."

Red lowered her head. "Y-you can't… I don't deserve-"

Yang's only response was to kiss her on the top of her head once more. Red immediately fell silent, unable to think up a proper response to what was happening. She tried to break out of Yang's hug a second time, but it was no use. After a few seconds, she choked back a sob, then looked back to the blonde.

Her mind was going a mile a minute, trying in vain to find some explanation for what was happening that made sense to her. But no matter what angle she examined this from, she still couldn't make sense of it. Yang should have hated her, and this should have been nothing but a big trick, designed to get her to let her guard down… but she knew that wasn't right. Yang hadn't had enough time to put something like that together, and moreover, that wasn't her style anyway. That meant only one thing.

Against all reason, Yang was being completely genuine in what she had said. And that was something that Red, in all her guilt and self-loathing, simply couldn't fathom.

"Y-you…" Red finally managed to stammer out, still in disbelief. "You don't hate me…?"

Yang shook her head. Red felt tears start to form in her eyes once more, and she knew that her will, once as strong as iron, was being chipped away with every passing second. But that wasn't about to stop her from asking questions – she had to know.

Against everything in her head screaming at her to stop, she pressed on.

"You don't… y-you don't... think I'm a m-monster?"

Again, the blonde shook her head. This was all starting to look almost too good to be true. Red found herself forced to hold back a series of sobs as tears again began to spill from her eyes.

"Y-you still… l-love-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. For the third time, Yang leaned down and planted a kiss between her ears. Red froze, her one good eye widening in shock as she realized, finally, that there was no hidden angle or agenda to what Yang had said.

When Yang had said that she loved her, she hadn't been lying. Yang didn't see her as a monster. Red still didn't understand exactly why… but at that moment, it didn't matter. Whatever apprehension she may have had was quickly buried under a layer of relief – relief at the fact that despite all she had done, there was still someone who loved her, even against all reason.

There was shame there, too – shame that she had let herself fall so low, and shame that she could have ever truly believed that Yang would hate her, even if it made no sense that Yang still loved her after all she had done. Visions flashed through Red's head – scenes from memories that didn't exist, of what those extra years in the White Fang could have looked like instead if she hadn't been so blinded by her own self-hatred and guilt and had simply gone home instead. She knew now that Yang would have accepted her no matter what, and that brought with it some measure of relief, but an equal amount of pain as well.

That realization was when the tears started in earnest, against all of her self-control trying to hold them back.

It started small – one muffled sob, then two, Red desperately trying to keep herself from losing control the whole time. Two turned into three, these a bit louder; three turned into four, now plainly audible throughout the room as it got harder and harder for her to maintain control, but despite that, she kept trying – she didn't want them to think she was trying to win their sympathies when she didn't deserve them.

That was all true, but there was something else there, too. She was so used to not showing any weakness – to bottling up her pain inside so nobody else could see it, so she could suffer on her own like she felt obligated to after all she had done. It was how she had carried on for years while in the White Fang, both out of necessity to keep Sienna from realizing just how much Red hated her and out of her own desire to punish herself for what she had done, and even now, she could see that it was still what she truly deserved. Even Yang's love couldn't stop her from seeking penance through her own suffering.

But despite her best efforts, what had once come so easily to her was getting harder and harder with every passing second. She couldn't help herself; the knowledge that even after everything she had done, Yang still didn't hate her… that she had been wrong about that for all these years, and that there was still one person – the most important person – out there who still loved her no matter what… it was very nearly too hard for her to hold back.

And then, in an instant, it became downright impossible.

"It's okay, Ruby," Yang said softly and suddenly, her voice heavy with tears. "You don't have to try and be so strong around us anymore. There's no reason for you to hold back, or hide from us. We love you no matter what."

Yang paused to collect herself. That small mercy lasted for just a few short seconds.

The next time she spoke, she completely shattered Red's resolve with seven simple words, spoken so gently and full of so much love, yet carrying so much weight within them that Red's barriers never stood a chance.

"You can cry if you want to."

Despite Red's attempts to control herself, something about that proved to be too much for her to take. She didn't know whether it was finally realizing once and for all that Yang still loved her or if it was the simple act of someone letting her know that it was okay for her to show the true depths of her pain to the world instead of suffering silently, but whichever one it was, it didn't matter.

The dam finally broke, as did Red's feeble resistance. She stopped trying to hold back, instead leaning into her sister's touch as she completely and utterly broke down uncontrollably, finally letting the floodgates open for the first time in years. She brought her free hand up and wrapped it around Yang's torso in a death grip, as if she was afraid that letting go for even a little bit would mean that Yang would leave her. Yang, meanwhile, brought one hand up and began to gently run it up and down her sister's back as the younger girl wailed like a newborn baby, doing her best to make Red comfortable as she poured out a decade of regrets and self-hatred in one big moment of weakness.

There were footsteps all around her, and suddenly Red felt another pair of hands wrap around her. Then another, then another, then another… soon enough, it was like almost everyone in the room was holding onto her, as if telling her that they didn't hate her, that she wasn't alone, that she was anything but a monster. She couldn't make out who was who through her tears and her sobs, only that almost all her friends were there, save for one.

And the idea that all of them felt the same way about her that Yang did, even after all she had done… that only made her cry even harder. It was as if she had just learned of her mother's death for the first time all over again. There was no calming down, or maintaining control; there was just Red, wrapped up in her sister's arms, as she completely fell to pieces harder than she ever had before.

It was painful, baring herself to all of them and letting them see her like this… but at the same time, it was cathartic. She had been holding all of this pain within her for so long, and letting it all out like this provided some form of relief. Years of effort spent hiding her true thoughts and her true identity, gone in a single moment. So much effort spent hiding, yet it did nothing but lead to her being embraced by the people she cared about more than anything in the world.

Suddenly, there were noises in her head, and flashes in her vision – memories of battles fought, injuries sustained, and lives taken. They were reminders of just who she was – that as bad as she felt, she deserved to feel even worse, and that she had no right to cry unless it was over the people she had murdered. Normally, she would agree… but now, sitting nestled in the arms of her sister and her friends, she couldn't help but ignore it.

Her penance would come later, but for now, all she wanted to do was let them hold her as she cried, whether she deserved their love or not.

It was selfish of her, she knew… but despite that truth, she also knew that there wasn't a person in the world who would be able to drag her out of Yang's arms right now. If she was more lucid, she would have felt bad about it – how she was crying out of self-pity and remorse more than anything, as if she deserved to feel either of those things after what she had done. But it didn't matter; the fact was, she was stuck here now, and despite the logical side of her telling what to do, it was pushed aside in favor of her emotional side, which demanded that, just this once, she allow herself to do what she had been avoiding for so long and just let herself cry it out.

And cry it out she did. Minutes passed, and she showed no signs of stopping, but not once did anybody try and say anything to calm her down or get her to stop – rather, the only noises they made were sniffles and sobs of their own. They knew how badly she needed this, and not a single person in that room would have ever dreamed of taking it away from her, no matter how long it went on.

They all stayed like that for a while, none of them saying anything in favor of simply letting her cry, allowing her to finally release everything she had been keeping bottled up for so long. Eventually, after what felt like hours, Red felt herself begin to calm down. Her uncontrollable sobs turned into little more than a few stray tears and soft sniffles. Seeing that she was now feeling a bit better, all her friends gently broke the hug, leaving her and Yang the only ones still embracing. Red went to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes, though once again the handcuffs on her right wrist kept her from doing so. Before she could try with her other hand, Yang finally let her go and used her newly-freed hands to wipe away Red's tears for her.

The sisters stared at each other with clarity once again. Red trembled beneath her sister's gaze, and again she sniffled. Yang quickly reached out and again hugged her.

"That's better," she said softly. "It's okay, Ruby."

Red shook her head. "It's not..."

"It is," Yang insisted. "You're here, and that's what matters." She paused, choking back a sob of her own. "...I was so scared I would never see you again. All I've wanted for the last ten years was to find you, and now..."

She gently pulled away from Red, instead taking her by the hands. Again, the two stared at each other. Slowly, a smile crept across Yang's face. Tears filled the corners of her eyes, but they were free of the sorrow they had contained just a short while, replaced with nothing less than sheer relief.

"...You're finally back with me," Yang said happily, despite the lump in her throat.

From behind them, someone cleared their throat. Turning, the two of them saw that it was Ozpin. To Red's surprise, the headmaster held up a small key. Yang understood immediately, and moved aside; Ozpin strode over to Red, then unlocked her handcuffs. The wolf looked at him in shock.

"Why…?"

Ozpin exhaled. "I think it's safe to say that you've given Glynda and I a lot to think about, Miss Canis… or is it Miss Rose?"

Now, that was a good question. He was offering her a choice, even if he didn't realize it. Ultimately, it was a simple choice to make – if her time here was going to be limited, then it might as well be comfortable until the end.

Red Canis had died back in that compound. She should have stayed dead… but Ruby wasn't ready to let go of her memory just yet. The lie of Red Canis may have been dead and buried, but the last thing she wanted to do was give up the name in its entirety, even if it was ultimately meaningless without the lie to go with it.

She didn't want to embrace her old name ever again – didn't want the truth of Ruby Rose following her to her grave, not after everything Ruby had done. She was the one who deserved to be dead and buried, not Red. And the wolf would fight with everything she had to make that happen, even if they all knew who Red had once been, and even if it meant nothing to any of them. She knew that it was nothing more than a symbolic gesture, done only to ease her own conscience, but for her, it meant everything.

And so, she made her decision.

"It's Canis," Red stated, looking away. "I… I don't think I want to be Ruby Rose anymore… Too many bad memories..."

Yang looked at her in shock and confusion, but Red ignored it. Behind the blonde, Ozpin sighed heavily.

"...I see. Anyway, I have much to do."

"Oz, don't tell me you're considering punishing her," Glynda stated, surprised.

The headmaster shook his head. "I certainly am not, now that I've learned the truth. In fact, I would go so far as to consider her another victim of her mentor rather than a criminal in her own right. But there is someone else who would disagree, at least at the moment."

Glynda's gaze narrowed. "James," she said, through gritted teeth.

"Indeed." Ozpin picked up his mug, moving towards the door. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have a call to make."

With that, he turned and left. After a moment, Glynda cast a glance around the room before standing up.

"Needless to say, classes are canceled for Team RWBY until we – and all of you, I suppose – figure some things out. After all that you've been through these past few days, I think the four of you need a break," she announced. "Mister Arc, I expect your team to help them catch up in the meantime."

"Leave it to us," Jaune said without hesitation.

Glynda nodded, then turned to Coco. "And you? I trust your team is still prepared to undertake your assigned mission."

"Ready and willing," Coco announced.

"Excellent. If that's it, I'll take my leave." She moved towards the door, then stopped. "I'm glad you're okay, Miss Canis. Please don't scare us like that again… and for the record, please don't keep secrets like that. It's unbecoming of a Huntress-in-training to hide such valuable knowledge from her allies."

Her piece said, the deputy headmistress pushed her way through the door before gently closing it behind her. Once she was sure that Goodwitch was gone, Coco snickered.

"Trust Miss Goodwitch to still act like a hard-ass even though she was blubbering like a baby along with the rest of us not too long ago. Hard to take her seriously when her makeup's running like that."

"You're one to talk," Velvet teased.

"Wha-" The fashionista paused. "...Okay, how bad's my mascara?"

"As bad as Pyrrha's eyeliner."

Pyrrha touched the edges of her eyes, frowning when she saw her fingers come back green. "...Well, at least I'm not as bad as Blake."

Before Blake could respond, Red cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her, causing her to fidget uncomfortably. Still, she managed to barely get out what she wanted to say.

"...What now?"

Before anyone could say anything further, Weiss suddenly turned and began to wheel herself away. They all noticed, and Yang was quick to call out to her.

"Weiss, is everything alright?"

The heiress stopped, hung her head and sighed. "...No. I just found out that I've spent the last few months living with someone who tried to kill me, who's been haunting my life for the past two years… I don't know what to think..." She looked away. "...I need some time to figure things out, okay?"

"Weiss, don't tell me you hate-"

"I don't know how to feel right now," Weiss admitted. "I'm confused, and hurt, and not at my best. Please understand."

Reluctantly, Yang nodded. "...Yeah, I do."

At that, the heiress relaxed. "Thank you."

With that, she left the rest of them. Red watched her go in silence, feeling nothing but shame well up in her soul. They all noticed that as well, and out of all of them, Coco was the first to act.

"Come here, you."

Before Red could reply, Coco had pulled her into another hug. Again, Red felt the twinges of guilt inside her, but was quick to bury them. Coco holding her wasn't the same as Yang holding her, but it still disarmed her all the same.

"You really scared us, kiddo," the second-year muttered softly. "Don't ever do that again, okay? I get that you had to save Weiss, but next time, you wait for backup."

Weiss… Red stared forlornly at the door her friend had left through… or was it ex-friend? At this point, she wasn't sure. Weiss had asked for some time alone, and as much as all of them wanted to be there with her, they knew better than to intrude after what she had said.

Still, Red couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"...Will Weiss be okay?"

Her question seemed to take all of them by surprise. Everyone else in the room exchanged an uneasy glance with each other before looking back to her.

"...I think she'll be fine, given enough time," Velvet said after a moment. "This was… a big shock to her, to put it mildly. It was what she expected to hear, sure, but even knowing that didn't prepare her for actually hearing it."

At that, Red looked down in shame, knowing that she was responsible once again for Weiss suffering. To her surprise, someone rested a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found it was Nora.

"Hey, now," Nora admonished, the tear tracks running down her cheeks having done nothing to diminish her trademark optimistic tone. "None of that. Weiss is strong, Red – give her some time, and I'll sure she'll come out of this alright."

Red had her doubts. They must have shown on her face, because Yatsuhashi was the next to step up.

"If that bastard at the compound couldn't break her, there's no way this will," the second-year declared.

Fox nodded along with what his teammate was saying. "Yatsu is right. I imagine that this is quite hard on Weiss, but she will recover. The fact that your friendship with her was genuine is proof enough of that."

"Genuine…" Red repeated, then shook her head. "...It was based on a lie. All of it was, even what I had with all of you."

"Wrong," Coco said bluntly. "We didn't know your real name, sure, but everything that happened, and those relationships you share with us? That's all you, kiddo. You can't fake something like that, not for as long as you claim to have done it. And, no offense, but you're much better at hiding the truth entirely than you are at covering it up with a lie." The corners of her mouth quirked upwards slightly. "Seriously, contact lenses and hair dye?"

"I mean, it fooled all of us," Pyrrha pointed out.

"Only because we didn't know what to look for. Now that I think about it, I can see some bits of red poking through her hair."

"But she's been stuck in a hospital bed for three days, so naturally some of the dye would have rubbed-"

"Look, that's not the point," Coco interrupted before turning back to Red. "The point is this: you can try to say that it was all a lie, we just won't believe you if you do."

Red blinked, completely at a loss as to what to say. It seemed that no matter what she said, they would remain at her side anyway. The thought brought a fresh round of tears to her eyes, and she sniffled as she brought one hand up to rub at them.

"...You're all too good for someone like me," she mumbled.

"Don't start with that, now," Blake said softly. Approaching from the side, she gently threw one arm around her team leader's shoulders. "No talking about yourself like that. I know you blame yourself for what happened, but trust me, we don't. You'll always be our friend, Red. You deserve to have people in your life who care about you. You are more than your mistakes."

She didn't respond to that, instead continuing to look down at her feet. Silence settled over the room once more, before Coco finally had enough and pulled her scroll out of her pocket to check the time.

"Now then," Coco suddenly stated, "much as I dislike the idea of leaving you, I think it would be best if we gave you and Yang some time to yourselves." Turning to Red, she said, "I may just want to pull you into a big hug and never let go, but I think you two need to discuss some family matters first."

"You don't have to-" Yang began, only for Coco to stop her by holding up a hand.

"I appreciate it, but this is going to be hard enough for her with just the two of you. Take it from someone who's been in a similar situation with her own family – you're gonna need some time to yourselves for this one. I'm pretty sure everyone else here feels the same way."

Everyone else in the room nodded.

Blake stepped forwards. "We'll leave you and Red alone for a bit. If you need us, call. We'll come running."

"I know you will. Thanks, all of you. It means so much. And… I know I don't have to ask, but please keep an eye on Weiss. Once she's calmed down a bit, she'll need all of you there with her."

They all nodded in understanding, and after giving Red a quick goodbye and a reassurance that they still cared about her, all of them exited through the door. Red and Yang watched them go, and once they had all left, the blonde turned back to her sister.

"You know what happens now, right?"

Red shook her head. Yang breathed a soft sigh. "...It's time to call Dad, Ru- _Red_."

Red lowered her head. "I-if you're sure..."

"Hey," Yang said gently, putting a hand on her back. "It'll be all right. Dad's been looking for you for years. He wants to see you again, I promise."

Red didn't say anything. After a few seconds, she nodded softly. Yang pulled her hand away, then reached for her scroll, dialing the first number on her contacts list. It rang only once before being picked up.

"_What's up, Yang?" _

Immediately, Red's ears perked up. It had been ten years, but she still recognized the voice as her father's, weathered with age and grief as it was. She swallowed nervously.

"_Yang, honey, is everything alright? You don't look too good."_

Red watched Yang hold back the lump in her throat. Once she had recovered, she spoke.

"...I found her, Dad."

"_You found her? Who are you-"_

Yang said nothing, instead turning her scroll around so it faced Red. The wolf looked up, freezing when she saw the image on screen. The two of them stared at each other in stunned silence for a moment before recognition crossed the man's face.

"_...Oh, gods…! Ruby, is that you?!"_

Hesitantly, Red nodded. To her surprise, she watched her father's eyes fill with tears. He rubbed at them, stammering the whole time.

"_I-I don't… Yang, how did you…?"_

The blonde winced. "It's… a long story, Dad. Let's just say that she's been under my nose for months, and I didn't realize it until she told me a little while ago."

"_She didn't tell you right away? Why not? Did something happen to her?"_

Again, Yang winced, giving her sister a look of pity. Red's ears flattened and she looked away. Sighing, the brawler turned back to her scroll. "...That's something that we really should talk about in person."

"_Well, you won't have to wait long – I'm heading over right away. Qrow's at the house – I'll tell him to meet me at the airport and we'll catch the first flight into Vale. We'll be a few hours. Just… don't let her go anywhere."_

"I won't," Yang said, her voice filled with determination. "Love you, Dad."

"_Love you, Firecracker. And I love you too, Rosebud. __I can't wait to see you again.__"_

Red flinched at her old nickname, but stayed silent. Yang ended the call, sighing at the same time.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

The ex-assassin hesitated. "...Nervous."

Yang reached out, taking hold of one of her hands. "Trust me when I say that all Dad has wanted for the past ten years has been to find you. He'll be nothing but happy to finally see you in person."

"...Even if he knows about-"

"Even then." She gently squeezed her sister's hand.

"...Will you… will you be here? I don't want to be alone with him… Not ready for that just yet..."

Yang's expression softened. "I wouldn't miss this for the world, Red. I just got you back; I'm not going to be leaving you alone for a long time. Count on it."

At that, Red relaxed slightly. She went to say something else, only to be cut off by wide yawn. Once she recovered she looked over to her sister, only to find Yang frowning slightly.

"You must be exhausted after all that," the blonde observed, earning a nod. "Get some rest, then. I'll wake you up when Dad gets here."

The wolf hesitated. "...I don't know if I can, Yang. I'm nervous..."

"There's nothing to be worried about," Yang assured her. "I'll be right here, just like I said I would. Please, at least try. You're running yourself ragged like this, and it hurts to watch."

Once more, Red hesitated. After a moment, she nodded reluctantly. "...I'll try."

Yang smiled softly. "Thanks, Red. Goodnight."

"Night..."

The wolf sank into her bed, closing her eye and trying to will sleep to come. It never did due to her nervousness, but that didn't stop her from trying. Even if she never fell asleep, and even though she was incredibly nervous, part of her couldn't help but feel just a bit more calm than she had been.

With Yang by her side, it was tough to feel completely hopeless.

* * *

It was a few hours later when the silence was broken by a chime on Yang's scroll. Red's one good eye cracked open and she rolled over to face Yang, who greeted her with just two words.

"They're here."

Red's face fell. She sat up, leaning against the headboard of her bed, and waited. Soon enough, she heard the sound of two pairs of running feet from down the hall. They drew ever closer, finally stopping just as the door swung open.

Two men greeted her. One was unmistakably her father, though he was older and far more weathered than she remembered. The other was a taller, dark-haired man with unkempt stubble and wrinkled clothes who smelled strongly of alcohol. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place him.

"Ruby!"

Her father's shout broke her out of her spell. He took several steps forward, only for Red to cause him to freeze where he stood with two words.

"Please, don't."

He paused, looking at her in shock. "Ruby, what's wrong? I didn't scare you, did I? I'm sorry if I did; it's been ten years and-"

Red shook her head. "I-it's not that, it's..." She shivered, then took a breath. "I-I don't… deserve you..."

"You don't deserve me?" Tai asked, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

It was tough for her to explain. Accepting Yang's love had been hard, but doable. Yang had gotten the chance to know a different Red Canis than her father had – she had seen that despite Red's checkered past, she was still capable of acting like she wasn't a complete monster at times. Her father didn't know that, and that scared her. She was afraid that when he learned the truth, he would reject her. It was what she deserved, sure, but that didn't mean she was at all prepared to hear that he hated her.

As it turned out, years of steeling herself for exactly that happening couldn't compare to actually staring her father in the face and having to explain the awful truth to him. It didn't take much to imagine what his reaction would be.

Thankfully, Yang seemed to notice that she was having trouble speaking, and came to the rescue.

Next to her, the blonde sighed sadly. "Dad, she's had a very rough life. She's done a lot of things she isn't proud of. She's afraid you'll hate her when you find out."

Immediately, Tai whipped back around to face her, his expression going from confused to concerned. "Ruby, I could never hate you. Please, tell me what's wrong."

Red hesitated, then sighed. "...I-it's not Ruby anymore. My name's Red, Red Canis."

"You changed your name?"

"Y-yeah… Don't want to be Ruby Rose anymore… Red is a better person; easier to live with myself under that name..."

The dark-haired man frowned. "Kiddo, I don't know what you did, but that's not gonna help anything," he said, as gently as possible.

She felt like she remembered this man, but she couldn't place him. There was a vague face in her memories, but no name to go with it. It had been a while since she had seen her family, but it had been even longer since she had seen him. Still, she couldn't help but feel like he was important somehow – obviously he was, if her father had seen fit to bring him along.

That just made him one more person to disappoint, then.

Red shook her head. "...Helps me sleep at night. Makes it so I can look in a mirror without feeling bad."

Tai grimaced, raising one leg to take a step forward. Remembering his daughter's request, he stopped, the reluctantly lowered his leg and stayed rooted in place. "Tell us," he pleaded. "I want to know everything."

Despite her best efforts, she found herself tongue-tied. The words refused to come out. Telling Yang had been one thing – she had made a promise, after all – but telling her father? That was different. It shouldn't have been, and yet for some reason, it was.

Red flinched, her ears flattening. "...It's… not easy to tell," she admitted, sniffling. "...Barely got through telling Yang… I don't know if I can do it again..."

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance, then."

Everyone turned towards the door. Ozpin stood there, steaming mug of cocoa in one hand. He nodded towards the other two adults.

"Taiyang, Qrow. I figured you two would be arriving at some point today. Good to see you both again, though I wish it was under less complicated circumstances than this."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Complicated?"

"Indeed. Happy circumstances to a point, but just as well..." Ozpin trailed off. "Anyway, I believe I can help you, Miss Canis."

He reached into his pocket, pulling out his scroll. "I made sure to record your conversation earlier. Initially, I intended to use it as evidence, but now..."

"Wait, evidence?" Tai asked, suddenly concerned. "What's going on, Oz? What happened to Ruby?"

Ozpin frowned. "I believe she goes by-"

"She told us, but I don't understand. Why did she change her name? Why is she so depressed, and afraid of me?"

"What happened to her?" Qrow asked bluntly.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "I assure you, all will be explained in the video… and, if I'm being honest, we have things to discuss."

"What kind of things?"

"Let's just say someone we all know has decided to show himself again after several decades of inactivity."

Tai and Qrow exchanged a glance, then a nod. Turning back to Oz, Tai said, "Alright, show us."

Ozpin moved to the side, motioning to the door. "To my office, then. I will try to keep it brief; I imagine you wish to spend as much time with your daughters as possible, Taiyang."

"You have no idea," Tai replied. He turned towards the door, then cast a glance over his shoulder. "I won't be long. I love you both."

"Love you too, Dad," Yang replied.

Red said nothing. Tai frowned. "Red."

At the sound of his voice, she glanced up at him. He cracked a small smile. "I meant what I said. You are my baby girl, and I will always love you. Never forget that."

Red blinked, then looked down. She wanted to believe him, but she couldn't. Not when he was about to learn the truth for himself. Tai's expression faltered, and he turned back to Ozpin. "Right, let's do this."

With that, the three men set out, leaving Red and Yang alone again. Once they were gone, Red fell into her sister's grasp once more. Again, the guilt came back, but she didn't care.

Something told her she wouldn't have much time to enjoy this before her father came back to pass judgment on her, and she wanted to make the most of it while she still could.

* * *

Stepping into Ozpin's office, the headmaster motioned for Tai and Qrow to sit down across from him. The two did so, and Ozpin settled into his own seat, then pulled out his scroll and placed it down on the desk in front of him. Glynda stood next to him, having been waiting for the three of them to arrive. Taiyang reached for the scroll, only for Ozpin to stop him by placing a hand over it.

"I should warn you about what you're about to see," he cautioned. "I wasn't being completely honest with Miss Canis when I told her that I had video of her confession. In truth, I have much more than that."

Taiyang looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

The headmaster placed his coffee mug on the desk. "A few nights ago, Miss Canis and her team were involved in an incident at the docks."

"Wait, that was them?" Qrow asked, surprised.

"You know about this?" Tai asked.

"How could I not? It was all over the news for about a day – massive fight at the docks, multiple casualties, two downed gunships… yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing the media would kill to see."

"Then why haven't I heard about it?"

Qrow shrugged. "Apparently, someone decided to flex his authority a bit and bury the story." He gave Oz a sideways glance. "Not that that's much of a surprise – he certainly did the same for our team plenty of times whenever we got up to something we shouldn't have."

Tai blinked. "...If that's the metric we're going by, then it must have been pretty bad. I'm assuming that's why Ru- Red was in the hospital?"

"You're half right," Ozpin replied. "I'll spare you the details. All you need to know is that Roman Torchwick and the White Fang were involved."

Taiyang and Qrow exchanged a glance. "Shit, really?" Qrow asked. "Must be something big if the 'Fang's working with a human."

"Indeed, but that's not the concerning part. You have yet to meet her, but one of the members of Team RWBY is Weiss Schnee."

"Ah, shit… what happened?"

"She was kidnapped by Torchwick and sold to the White Fang. I think you can imagine what they had planned for her."

Both men winced. "...I'll admit that I'm the last person to care about the Schnee family, but even a Schnee doesn't deserve what the 'Fang would do to 'em," Qrow said. "She get out okay?"

"After some torture. Miss Canis got there in time to save her before things got any worse."

"Why tell us this?" Taiyang asked. "Is whatever's on that scroll really that bad?"

"Yes," Ozpin said bluntly, taking both men by surprise. "The first video I will show you contains footage from the White Fang base – after extracting both girls, I returned as fast as I could and took the tapes from the security cameras. And before you ask, yes, I will be disposing of the footage after you see it, and no, the police are not aware that it exists. For all they know, the compound's security system has been nonfunctional for years. It wasn't what I initially planned on, but given what we now know about Red, I think this is the best course of action to take."

"Okay, just what are you trying to tell us?" Qrow asked, confused.

The headmaster sighed. "Miss Canis is very protective of her friends, you see, especially Miss Schnee. Earlier this semester, she sent seven boys to the hospital with severe injuries because they were bullying Miss Schnee."

"Wait, you're saying she might have killed people in that base?" Taiyang asked, shaking his head. "No way. I know her, and she would never do that. That's not the girl I know."

"She's not the same girl she used to be, Tai," Oz said sadly. He took his hand off the scroll, gently pushing it closer to the two of them. "Here. I will answer any questions you have afterwards."

Taiyang cast one last glance up at Oz before taking the scroll in his hands, positioning it so that both he and Qrow could watch. He pressed the play button, and both men settled in to watch, uncertain expressions on both of their faces.

Within moments, the room was filled with the sounds of combat. Shouts, gunfire, explosions… death rattles. It took only a few seconds to get a reaction out of both of them: Taiyang at first looked conflicted, as if he couldn't believe that his little girl was capable of the things she was doing, only for him to settle into a look of pure depression after watching a bit more. Qrow, meanwhile, watched the whole thing with a morbid expression on his face. Wordlessly, he reached for his flask and took a big drink, never taking his eyes off the screen.

After a few minutes, the video stopped. The sounds of battle faded, leaving nothing but silence in their wake. Tai closed out of the video, then brought one hand up to tiredly rub at his eyes.

"...Why would she do that?" he asked somberly. "I don't understand… what happened to her?"

"Like I said, she isn't the same person you know her as," Oz replied. "She has been through a lot over the past ten years, none of it good."

"I recognized some of her moves," Qrow said. "When she was using her scythe. She was using some of my old moves."

Taiyang looked at him in surprise. "How can you be sure?"

"Because they were some of the first ones I created when I made my scythe. You remember – I showed them off to everyone I could during Combat Class so I could brag about being one of the only scythe users in the world." He turned back to the headmaster. "Oz, how could she possibly have known about those? They aren't in any training manuals that I'm aware of. The only way she could have learned them is if one of us showed them to her, and given the state of our team, I somehow doubt that's what happened."

Ozpin simply motioned over to the scroll. "Perhaps it would be best to move on to the other video, then. All will be explained there."

Taiyang didn't need to be told twice. He brought the scroll up once more, and again pressed play.

This time, the reactions started off more muted. Both men managed to keep themselves under control up until Red started talking about her past. Once that happened, Qrow grimaced and again reached for his scroll; Tai, meanwhile, slumped down into his seat.

And then Red named her mentor.

Taiyang almost dropped his scroll out of shock. Qrow, meanwhile, choked on a mouthful of vodka. Quickly pausing the video, Tai looked over towards the headmaster, his eyes blazing.

"What did she just say?"

"You heard her correctly," Oz said, his voice full of remorse. "She named her mentor."

"I know. But it sounded like she said-"

"She did. Her mentor was Edward Almost."

There was a loud snap as Tai involuntarily broke the armrest off his chair. He dropped the piece on the ground, then brought his hand up to rub at one of his temples. He seemed like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. After a moment, it finally settled in his mind, and his confusion gave way to another emotion.

Sheer, unbridled rage.

Snarling, Tai turned back towards his chair. One punch reduced it to little more than a pile of splinters, causing everyone else in the room to flinch.

"Tai-" Qrow began.

"Ten years," Tai spat. "Ten. _Fucking_. Years. That gods-damned psycho had Ruby for a fucking _decade,_ Qrow."

Tai tossed Qrow the scroll, then marched over to Ozpin's desk and slammed both hands onto his desk, leaning down to get right up in the headmaster's face. His eyes, normally a deep blue, were seeming to almost glow crimson.

"Tell me," he began, his measured tone doing nothing to hide the fact that he was apocalyptic. "What did he do to her to make her capable of that?"

Ozpin didn't move. "Taiyang-"

"Answer my question, Oz. How bad is it?"

Ozpin looked like he wanted to resist, but thought better of it. Reluctantly, he sighed. "...Extremely."

"Tell me."

"She has been deliberately tight-lipped about it, but from what I can gather, he was nothing less than consistently physically and verbally abusive. At one point, he even branded her on her stomach when she-"

There was a loud crash as Ozpin's desk snapped in half. Again, everyone flinched.

Taiyang dusted off his hands before leaning into the headmaster's face once more. "You told us he was dead," he snapped.

"I believed he was," Ozpin replied calmly. "When he left Beacon, I attempted to have my sources track him, but he vanished not long after. I just assumed-"

"Oh, you _assumed._ Tell me, what else did you _assume_, Oz?" Tai challenged. "Did you maybe _assume_ that Ruby was dead, too?"

"Tai, that's enough," Qrow said. "This isn't Oz's fault."

"It's at least partly his fault," Taiyang fired back. "If he had been more diligent with tracking Almost, this never would have happened. That psycho would have been caught and dealt with before he could do this."

"I assure you, my sources did everything in their power-"

"Then your sources are shit," Tai said through gritted teeth. "What else do you know about him that you haven't told me?"

"I assure you, I know nothing beyond what Miss Canis has seen fit to tell me at this time."

"Then you need to search harder. I want everything – where he's been, where he is now, what he's been doing. He's haunted my family for too long, and it ends now."

"Whoa there," Qrow said, rising from his feet and approaching his friend. "Look, I get that you want to choke the life out of the bastard, but there are more important things to worry about right now. Your kids need you."

"You think I don't know that?!" Tai snapped angrily. "I want nothing more than to be with them, but there's no way I can rest easy knowing that bastard is still out there, probably just waiting for a chance to get his hands on Ruby."

"I know, but now's not the time. We'll get him eventually, but right now, you need to calm down," Qrow said sternly. "Take a deep breath and finish watching the video. We'll discuss things from there, and then you can go to your girls."

Taiyang had a retort on the tip of his tongue, but reluctantly swallowed it. He sighed, then closed his eyes; when he opened them, they were blue once more. "...Alright. Let's finish it."

They didn't say anything as he stepped back from what was left of Ozpin's desk. Qrow handed him the scroll, and they resumed the video from where it had stopped.

Again, the reactions were more muted compared to the first video. Both men managed to keep themselves in check for the majority of the video. Even if they were disturbed by what they were watching, it didn't show on either of them.

That all changed when Red showed her scars and started to talk about her suicide attempts.

Upon hearing his daughter break down, Taiyang's face contorted in grief. The scroll began to shake in his grasp; tears fell from his eyes as his shoulders shook with silent sobs. Qrow, meanwhile, simply looked depressed; silently, he reached for his flask and downed whatever was left in a few big gulps.

The video ended soon after, and Taiyang wordlessly passed it back to Ozpin before wiping his eyes with the back of one hand.

"I'm sorry," Ozpin said softly. "I can't imagine what this must be like for you, but for what it's worth, you have my condolences."

"Tell me you can help her," Tai demanded through the lump in his throat.

"I have been seeing her since she enrolled at Beacon, though I must admit that I am now positive our sessions were of limited value – she was almost certainly lying about most of the things she was telling me. I was planning to start seeing her again as soon as you permitted it."

"Do it," Tai pleaded. "Whatever it takes. Please, stop her before she tries again."

"You have my word that I will."

"Is that all?" Qrow asked impatiently.

Ozpin nodded. "For now. There are still some things we have to discuss, but they can wait."

The two men didn't need to be told a second time. Both of them quickly turned and walked over to the elevator, neither one bothering to spare a glance back behind them as they went.

There was something far more important that needed their attention.

* * *

It took about thirty minutes before the door to Red's hospital room came swinging open once door. Her father and the other man came marching in, both of them fixated on her. Unlike last time, neither one stopped moving towards her. She opened her mouth to ask them to stay put, but she didn't get a chance to say anything before her father reached her.

And to her surprise, the only thing he did was sweep her up into a big hug.

"I love you," he said, his voice shaky. It was clear he was on the verge of tears. "And nothing will ever change that, I swear. I love you so much..."

Red blinked in surprise, unsure of how to react. This hadn't been what she had expected at all. Much like with Yang, she couldn't understand why they were treating her like this.

They should have hated her, the same way she hated herself. Part of her wanted to tear herself out of his grasp, to scream that it was all wrong, that she hadn't properly earned their love. But much like what had happened with Yang, she couldn't bring herself to actually do it.

In that moment, being held by her father for the first time in ten years, hearing his reassurance that he didn't hate her… it was almost too much for her to take. Tears filled her eyes once more, and she felt a sob build up in her throat.

And then her father leaned down and kissed her between her ears, and it was suddenly impossible to hold back.

For the second time that day, she broke down in someone's arms. Father and daughter held each other tightly as they both cried – him silently, and her loudly and uncontrollably. At some point, Yang joined them, Tai pulling her into the hug along with her sister. Yang threw one arm around both of them, and together, the three of them cried it out.

It had taken ten years, but they were finally a family again.

The guilt was back again – a reminder that she didn't deserve any of this, that she was still the same killer she was when she left the White Fang… but once again, she found it impossible to tear herself away. It was something inside her, she realized – something in her mind that kept her anchored in her father's arms, that one small part of her that had yearned for her family's love for ten years and wouldn't be denied it, no matter how little she deserved it. Trying to break away was a fool's endeavor; she knew it, and so did the part of her that demanded she suffer for what she did.

This time, like the last time, she let herself lean into her family's touch. As much as it hurt to know that they were too good for her, she wasn't naive enough to deny the fact that there was still a part of her, however small, that desired their love more than anything in the world.

The three of them held the embrace for a while, until the tears had mostly dried up. Once they had, they pulled apart, and Taiyang spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Red," he said softly. "If I had been there-"

"Don't," Red replied, equally as quietly. "Please, don't. None of this is your fault."

"And it's not your fault, either," Qrow said from behind Tai. Red gave him a confused look, and he sighed. "Yeah, shoulda figured you'd forget about me, what with me not being around that often and all… I'm your uncle, squirt."

Red eyed him with nervous trepidation, prompting Yang to step forward and throw an arm around her. "He's telling the truth," she said. "And not just about being our uncle. This really isn't your fault. I know you don't believe us, but it's true."

Red said nothing, instead directing her gaze down to her legs. It was clear to all involved that she didn't believe what they were telling her. Yang sighed softly, pulling her close, tears once again filling the corners of her eyes. Red tensed, but after a moment, relaxed and leaned into her sister's touch.

Tai and Qrow watched, neither of them saying anything. There was still so much left unsaid – questions that needed clarification, reassurances to give, requests to make… concerns that needed to be raised and dealt with. But for now, they were pushed to the side. The shadows looming over them would have to wait.

Right now, all they wanted was to just be together again as a family.

* * *

Ozpin tensed when he heard his scroll ring. Checking the caller ID, he sighed. It was a call he had been expecting for several days now, especially since he had tried calling them first a short while later and been sent to voicemail, but that didn't mean it was one that was entirely welcome. Glynda took a break from putting his desk back together with her semblance to glare at the scroll.

"Shall I tell him you're busy?" she asked.

The headmaster shook his head. "No. This is a conversation that needs to be had, and I would rather have it now and get it over with."

Glynda said nothing further, instead acquiescing with a grunt. Ozpin reached for his scroll, exhaling slowly as he did so, then picked up the call.

"James. I take it you've already read the message I sent explaining everything?"

"_I got through the first page before deciding I had to give you a call, because it looked like you were going to make a big mistake. And I think you know what I intend to do about it."_

Ozpin felt his expression fall. James had never been one for distractions, but even he generally wasn't this laser-focused. "Unfortunately, I do."

"_Then you know that I can't let her stay there. My Specialists will be arriving in a few days to come take her into custody."_

"And transport her to Atlas to stand trial?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Glynda narrow her eyes and open her mouth to say something. He quickly stopped her by holding up a hand. She stared at him, then exhaled before allowing herself to relax.

"_Yes," the General __bluntly __replied. "I trust there will be no problems with this?"_

The headmaster sighed, casting a glance out the window. "You know I can't let you do that, James."

"_Why not? You know what she's done – what she's capable of. She's as much a danger to your students as she was to the people she murdered."_

"She is a victim of circumstance, and moreover, she is one of my students.."

"_She's a mass murderer, Oz. I understand that she's your student, but be reasonable about this. She cannot be allowed to roam free. She must answer for her crimes."_

"If you mean for her to suffer for what she's done, she already is," Ozpin replied sadly. "Let me ask you something, James: how long ago can you trace her killings back?"

"_The ones we know to be her? About three years – that's the absolute earliest we can be sure that she began killing since that's when bodies started appearing with scythe wounds in addition to anti-materiel and pistol caliber bullet wounds."_

"Well, according to her, she's been active for five. And I see no reason to doubt her when she says that."

"_And what does that have to do with anything?"_

"Do the math, James. She is a first-year student at Beacon, and in fact, she was admitted two years early. That makes her fifteen years old at the moment. Now, how old do you think that makes her when she began killing?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line as James tried to find something to say in response. Finally, at the end of it all, there was a heavy sigh. _"Gods damn it… I knew the White Fang w__ere__ sick, but..."_

"Trust me when I say that it is even worse than you think. Let's just say that there is much work to be done."

"_So, that's it, then? She just gets to roam free?"_

"What would you have me do with her, James?" Ozpin asked bluntly. "I get that you're enraged about this whole situation, but even you know better than to blame a child soldier for the things she was forced to do. After all, you're currently technically using one yourself."

_"__I know, but..." _Another sigh. _"...The idea of her being embedded with the regular student body is… highly unnerving, to say the least. You're sure she can be trusted?"  
_

"She has made several friends here, and she has just been reunited with her family. I think there is little risk of her going on a killing spree at Beacon."

"_Her family? Then you know who she really is, then."_

"Indeed, I do. Summer would be happy to know that she's finally been found and reunited with them."

"_Summer? What are you-"_ There was another pause, followed by a sharp intake of breath. _"Oh, __G__ods..."_

"Do not blame yourself," Ozpin admonished. "You had no way of knowing what would happen."

"_You're right, but I'm at the very least culpable. Will she be there for the Vytal Festival?"_

"Why do you ask?"

"_Me carrying out that order tore her family apart. It wouldn't be much, but if nothing else, I owe her an apology."_

Ozpin let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. James could be hotheaded and stubborn at times, but thankfully even he was capable of seeing the light in a situation such as this.

"_Anyway, you haven't answered my question. Will she be __participating__ in the Vytal Tournament?"_

That was an interesting question, and one that meant more than James thought it did. There was certainly a conversation that was going to have to be had with Red and her family regarding her future, but that was something for another day.

Shaking his head, Ozpin turned back to his scroll. "We shall see. Her team is not in fighting shape right now, and it may take a while before they are ready for combat once more."

"_I see. Then, if it's okay with you, I would like to meet her and her family once my ships arrive for the tournament. __Just to talk, I assure you – after what you told me… much as I hate to admit it, there's no way I can blame her for what she did. That'd be like trying to blame Penny for carrying out my orders.__" _He sighed once more. _"So, will I be able to see her for a moment once the fleet gets here?"_

At that, Ozpin frowned. "James, we discussed this. I do not want your ships patrolling Vale."

"_And the Council saw fit to override you due to the increase in White Fang activity. Normally I'd brush them off, but in this instance, I'm inclined to agree with them. Oz, we don't know what's going on – the people who attacked Amber are still out there somewhere, as are the people who killed Summer, and your student wasn't working alone. Times are changing, and not for the better. And I think we both know who to blame for all of it, even if we can't figure out exactly how she's involved."_

Ozpin frowned, both at James' insinuation and the fact that the Council had decided to go over his head. Reluctantly, he let out a sigh.

"...I will let her family know that you wish to speak with them. If they agree to a meeting, I will tell you."

_"Thank you. I will contact you with plans regarding the arrangements for my security detail shortly."_

The line went dead. Ozpin sighed, placing his scroll on his newly-repaired desk. Next to him, Glynda frowned.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Ozpin."

That made two of them. Ozpin cast a glance out the window. Outside, the sun was beginning to set over Vale, dyeing the whole city a muted orange. James had certainly been right when he said that times were changing.

The Queen, it seemed, had started making her moves once again.

* * *

**(Warning: long A/N incoming)**

**First off, before we get into this thing: a special thank-you to everyone who left a review last chapter. Seriously, you guys absolutely fucking crushed it. I wasn't sure what kind of reception I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what you guys gave, because that far surpassed everything I could have thought of. For real, a big thanks to all of you. You have no idea just how anxious I was about the last chapter, and to get that kind of reception… man, I felt like I was on top of the world afterwards. You're all awesome. I hope this chapter serves as a satisfying conclusion to my rendition of V1, because you guys deserve something nice after what you've done for me.**

**Anyway, there it is. It took thirty-two fucking weeks and tens of thousands of words, but the truth has finally come out, and the family is back together. Holy hell, I need a damn drink. Where's my Jefferson's and Vermouth? I think this calls for a nice Manhattan. Anything to ease the anxiety that writing this chapter gave me. Here's to hoping that I didn't fuck up what is quite literally the most important chapter in the entire fic.**

**Anyway, that aside, let's talk about this chapter a bit more in-depth, shall we? Red's confession is one of those moments that I've had in mind pretty much since day one – this and the convoy scene were what made me want to write this fic in the first place. I've been agonizing over getting this scene right for _months – _over that time, I've written and subsequently thrown away multiple different completed versions of it, reworked the entire thing multiple times, changed bits and pieces of it around, added and taken away parts of it… you name it, and it's been done to that scene, all in the name of getting it as right as possible. It was basically being tweaked right up until the moment it was posted, and only because I had to post it at some point, otherwise I'd have kept working on it forever. For an idea of what I'm saying: the initial rendition of this chapter was around 11,000 words. Now, it's just over 22,000. And you can bet that if I wasn't pressed for time, I probably would have added so much more, but this thing had to get published at some point and I was honestly getting kind of sick of staring at it, so I'll take what I can get.**

**Basically, what you've just read is the final result of multiple months of work – this chapter was so important that I started working on it a very long time ago, adding to it alongside many of the earlier chapters. I hope it didn't disappoint. I'm not one to beg for feedback, but I would very much appreciate knowing what all of you thought about it – if I could pick one chapter that I'd like feedback on, it's this one. If you think there's something that I did wrong, or if there's something I could improve, please let me know – it would be very helpful for my future projects.**

**Also, on the topic of feedback, I have to say: it was _really hard _reading all of your guys' predictions about how you expected this to go down, and having to hold myself back from explaining too much. You were all right on when you said that shit was going to hit the fan, but I'm fairly certain this isn't the way you expected it to go at all. I imagine that some of you might have wanted there to be a lot more fighting between Ruby and her friends, but from the beginning, I wanted it to be focused more on relief than conflict, hence why I've spent so long trying to push these characters together. Even Weiss, who a lot of you might think should _hate _Red, can't bring herself to do so just yet, because she has a history of being friends with her, and that counts for a lot for someone like her who went her entire life without having any friends. Instead, there's still some tension with Weiss, but for the most part, they've all come together. Red finally gets to cry it out after holding her feelings back for so long, and more importantly, the truth is finally out there for them all to see… and unlike what she was certain would happen, they all still love her even after learning what she's done.**

**That's not to say that it's nothing but relief, of course – the truth is out and the family is back together, but there's a big shadow looming over our favorite wolf Faunus right now, and dealing with that is going to to take some time and a very steady hand. At the moment, she's a ticking time bomb – volatile, and waiting for the right opportunity to go off and take everyone she feels she needs to down, herself included. But right now, I think they could all use a bit of a break. That will absolutely be coming up in the next couple of chapters, however. Count on it.**

**Besides that, I just want to say this: everything you saw from the beginning of the fic to this chapter was written specifically so I could have it come out in this way (that is, with almost everyone coming together to support Ruby after seeing how badly she needs it rather than having any of them shun her, get angry with her, or turn their backs on her) and have it make sense… and let me tell you, _it was kind of a pain in the ass, _but looking at the result, I think it was worth it – I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Given the option, I would definitely do it all again… just hopefully a bit better.**

**That being said, I'm sorry for teasing you all with some of it for so long – I know a few of you mentioned some concerns Ruby's ultimate goal not being revealed soon enough, and let me be clear that I absolutely do not fault you for that at all and in fact totally get what you were saying, but I couldn't tell you about it until I was sure it was right, not when it came with such a _huge _spoiler attached to it. Though I didn't mean to make the hints as annoying as they ended up being, so I will apologize for that.**

**Now then, I'm honestly tempted to ask how many of you caught the hints I was putting out there with regards to everything that was going to happen in this chapter and some of the tricks I used to try and make it more satisfying, from the scars on her arms being alluded to a few times throughout the story and the title of the story itself alluding to it (which I should explain – it's obviously a reference to Dante's _Inferno, _in which the seventh circle of Hell is reserved for those who have committed violence – against God, other people, _and themselves;_ it's also a reference to the Architects song of the same name, which spells it out much more clearly – that song is ostensibly about suicide. Beyond that, it's also a reference to the fact that this entire story is essentially Ruby being stuck in a personal hell of her own making, and everyone's attempts to break her out of it) to the fact that this chapter is the first time Ruby's real name has been used in this fic since she met Ozpin at the police station after the Dust shop robbery.**

**Sorry if I'm rambling; I'm just super excited to present this to all of you, as well as talk about it. It's easily my favorite scene that I've written so far, and will likely hold that title for the rest of the fic. I had a _fantastic _time working on it, difficult as it was to get right… well, as right as a novice like me can get it, at least. I'm sure I'll look back on this in the future and think of a million and one things that are wrong with it that could have been improved, but I'd rather not be stuck editing this thing in perpetuity, thank you. Perfect is the enemy of good enough, after all.**

**Now, all that being said, where do we go from here? Well, that's actually a pretty easy question to answer – this story is still far from over. I mentioned back in chapter 1 that we were in this for the long haul, and that's still completely true. I'm intent on seeing this thing through to the end. I will be doing my best to streamline it and trim some of the fat in order to get there in good time, so it will be very different from canon; story elements and even characters from canon may not make an appearance, or if they do, it will be in a reduced role, mainly because I want to avoid character bloat, I want to focus on the characters I already have to work with, and I actually want to finish this story at some point in the future so I can move on to other things. That being said, I will do my best to make it work. I hope to see you all there with me.**

**Now, I should add: I get that not everyone is interested in the conflict against Salem. I'd wager that a lot of you are mainly here for the character-driven drama, and switching the focus to a fight against Salem is clearly a big change. However, it's something I want to write, because I think it would be good practice and because I just love writing this fic. However, if you're not interested in that, I have a proposition: there's a point coming up in a few chapters that would be a very good spot to end it before getting to the fight against Salem. I would make that its own chapter, do my best to expand on it, and mark it with an A/N, designating it as the point where those of you who aren't interested in Salem can duck out. Does that sound good to all of you? I think it's the most fair way I could handle this – kind of giving the people who aren't interested in the Salem stuff closure, while also trying to set the story up for the Salem stuff I want to write.**

**Also, a warning: the next few chapters will contain a _dangerous _amount of hugs and kisses. It's taken sixteen fucking chapters to get this family back together and I'm gonna milk it for all it's worth, so if family members showing affection to one another isn't your thing, then I'm sorry to say that you will probably hate what happens next.**

**Another thing: I mentioned taking a hiatus before, and that's definitely still on the table. I'm gonna need some time to get everything lined up right for the fight with Salem, because if I'm being honest, what I have on that front right now kind of really sucks and I want to rework it. It'll take some time, so please be patient with me. Until then, I'll be wrapping things up for the first half in as satisfying a manner as I can. If you want to check out at that point (which will be clearly labeled in an AN, which is to say that it won't be for a few more chapters), feel free to. For the rest of you, once the hiatus hits, I'll see you when I'm done unfucking this story's currently-abysmal second half. And no, I'm not exaggerating – it's _really _bad. Remember to plan your fics thoroughly, everyone. **

**So, with all that out of the way, let's move on and get the healing process started in earnest, shall we? We've got a few chapters to go before I start patching up the second half, and I think it's high time that I start giving Rubes the love that's been denied to her for the entire story so far – God knows she needs it. Is it wrong of me to want to give the character I'm writing a big hug, an apology, and a bunch of ice cream or something for all the shit I'm putting her through? Because Jesus, at this rate I'm gonna have to write an entire damn spin-off that's nothing but different people telling the poor girl just how much they care about her and giving her plenty of hugs. **

**Next update: Saturday, July 4. Might be later on that day depending on what I've got going on. It's time to start Ruby's healing process in earnest, my friends.  
**


	17. Chapter 17

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 17

* * *

A silver eye blearily opened as light began to spill from the spaces between the blinds. Red rubbed the sleep from her eye, then stretched before lying back down in her bed. A quick glance at the nearby clock showed that it was just after nine in the morning. Late for her, but she had little else to do besides sleep in – she hadn't yet been cleared to leave the hospital, and if last night had been any indication, the staff at Beacon took their hospital guidelines _very _seriously.

She appreciated what her family had tried to do, but getting into an argument with the nurse when she tried to get them to leave instead of letting them spend the night in Red's room wasn't exactly helpful. Thankfully, they had listened when she had told them that she'd be fine, and that they could go. Ozpin had set the two adults up in an unoccupied room, and Yang had returned to her dorm.

Her family… she was still unsure of what to think of them. The wolf had spent so long being afraid that they would hate her, and to see that they still loved her was… unnerving, to a certain degree. It was almost impossible for her to believe that they could still love somebody who was responsible for as much evil as she was.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Red, are you awake? We brought you some breakfast."

Despite her misgivings, Red's ears perked up at the sound of her father's voice, and she sat up a bit straighter. She may not have understood how they could still love her, but that didn't mean that their love was unappreciated. Quite the contrary, in fact – after ten years without genuine affection, it felt good to be surrounded by family.

Also, hugs. Hugs were nice. She really wanted to hug them some more, even if it felt wrong for her to do so.

"Y-yes," Red replied softly.

The door opened slowly, allowing the three of them entry. Yang came in first, carrying a tray of food in one hand. Upon seeing it – and more importantly, upon smelling it – Red's stomach growled loudly. Her dad came in next, cracking a smile when he heard it.

"Someone's hungry."

Red said nothing, merely nodding in response. In all the excitement the day before, there hadn't really been a chance for her to eat anything substantial… and, having just woken up from a coma, she had been famished.

Yang gently placed the tray down on Red's lap, and the wolf wasted no time in digging in. She was eating so fast that it actually took her a minute to realize what she was eating – eggs, bacon, and toast. Nothing special, but hungry as she was, it tasted absolutely divine.

Yang threw an arm around her shoulders, making her pause for a moment. Swallowing what was in her mouth, Red put her fork down and hesitantly reached out with one hand, only to freeze halfway there and pull her arm back slightly. Seeing it, Yang frowned.

"It's okay, Red. You can hug me if you want."

That part of her was back again, she realized – the one that reminded her just how little she deserved to love them, and to be loved by them. It was screaming at her, demanding that she push them away once more, that she suffer for all that she had done. Red was about to do exactly that – to pull away, and go back to simply eating her food… but she made the mistake of gazing into her sister's eyes, and in that moment she realized just how much Yang needed it, too. And that was enough to break her resolve.

Red brought both arms up, pulling her sister close. The two embraced for a few seconds before Yang pulled apart and motioned to the tray of food; again, Red needed no further invitation, and she once again turned back to her meal, finishing it in record time.

She was left feeling satisfied, and not just because her belly was full.

"So," Tai said, picking up the empty tray and setting it aside, "we talked to the doctors on our way in. They said you're due to be released today, provided your stitches and bandages have held."

"They'll be here in a bit to examine your injuries," Qrow added. "But until then, it's just the three of us."

Red caught a whiff of alcohol on his breath, which made her frown. Was he really drinking already? Looking closer, she could see that his face appeared slightly reddened, and he looked a bit tipsy. That was certainly cause for concern.

"Actually..." came a voice from behind them, interrupting her thoughts. Turning, all of them found Coco and Velvet standing there. "...We figured we'd stop by before we shipped out," Velvet said.

Coco nodded. "Yeah. Wanted to check up on her, and meet her folks. Is that okay?"

"Oh, like you even need to ask," Yang said. "Come on in. No Yatsu or Fox?"

"Goodwitch has them checking over everything," Velvet said, stepping into the room and pulling the door closed behind her and Coco. "Apparently, things have started to pick up where we're going. We were actually supposed to leave a bit earlier, but she stopped us and made us start packing extra gear."

"Sounds rough," Tai said, standing up. "I'm Tai, by the way. I'm Yang and Red's dad, even if I don't resemble either of them very much – they take after their mothers more than me. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," the two second-years replied in unison.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Surprised that comment about us having different mothers didn't catch your attention."

Coco waved her off. "Oh, I noticed something was up already – no offense, but none of you look anything alike. I just didn't comment on it, since I have no room to talk regarding family situations."

Velvet shrugged. "It's none of my business."

Yang chuckled. "Heh. I should've known that's how you two would react, I guess."

Seeing a lull in the conversation, Qrow stepped forwards.

"Name's Qrow," he said with a grunt. "I'm their uncle… well, Yang's uncle – Red and I don't have the same blood."

"Still family, though," Tai insisted.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way. Anyway, from what Yang told me when she filled me in last night, I have your team to thank for reaching out to Red."

"Hardly," Velvet replied, shaking her head. "Blake was the one who set everything up. We just did what we could."

"Besides, we owed her one after she stood up for Velvet," Coco added.

"Regardless, you have our thanks."

Coco's expression fell. "...Probably not the best to thank me." She motioned towards Red. "If I'd been faster-"

"Whoa, now," Taiyang said, holding up a hand. "Let me stop you there. I get that you feel bad for Red getting hurt, but you're not looking at the positive side."

"Positive side?"

"Yeah. You managed to get in and get her out, and all of your friends made it out alive."

"But-"

"No 'buts,'" Tai admonished. "You did good. The people you cared about got to come home. With something like this, that's all you can ask for."

Both girls looked like they wanted to argue for a moment, but that soon gave way to resignation. "...You're right," Coco admitted.

"Trust me, I've been there before," Tai said. He motioned to Qrow. "So has he. The older you get, the more you come to appreciate just how much of a win it is getting all your people out of there. At the end of the day, there's nothing better."

"You sound like a teacher and a dad," Yang interjected.

"I _am _a teacher and a dad."

"Whatever, old man."

"'Old man?'" Tai echoed. "Well, why don't we step into the ring and I'll show you what this old man can do?"

"What, so I can kick your butt? Bring it on!"

Qrow, noticing everyone else's bewildered looks, simply smirked. "They do this all the time," he said. "Honestly, I'm surprised it took them this long to resort to this. Guess yesterday's excitement took more out of them than I thought."

"Alright, that's it," Tai announced. "C'mere!"

He suddenly lunged forwards, grabbing Yang and putting her in a headlock. She struggled in his grasp, but it was no use; he was too use. He brought one of his hands up, placing his knuckles against her head.

"Not the hair! Uncle Qrow, help!" she protested, to no avail; the noogie came, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Qrow leaned in to whisper to them. "Yeah, best not to try that yourself – Tai's the only one I've seen be allowed to touch her hair without getting thrown through a wall."

Velvet raised an eyebrow. "Speaking from experience?"

"That easy to tell? I'm _still _paying off the damages to that hair salon..."

Coco opened her mouth to add something, only for a small noise to cut her off. She turned towards it, bewildered. Everyone else did the same, instantly pausing in whatever they were doing, their eyes going wide. Their gazes all settled on Red.

And to their amazement, the wolf was staring at her sister and father, a small smile on her face.

A wide smirk crossed Coco's face. She folded her arms across her chest, turning to Tai. "Well, congrats – I'm pretty sure that's the first time anyone's ever heard her laugh at Beacon."

Red actually blinked out of surprise, as if she couldn't believe she had just smiled. It faded almost as quickly as it came, but it was there – the fact that everyone else looked overjoyed to have seen it was proof enough of that.

It felt odd, feeling the tinges of happiness after so long. It wasn't entirely unwelcome, she just didn't really know what to make of it. It made her feel slightly guilty – after all, her happiness ultimately came at the expense of the people she had killed.

But despite that guilt, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of longing once the feeling faded.

Yang took advantage of the moment to free herself from her father's hold. She walked over to the nearby bathroom, frowning when she saw herself in the mirror. After a moment, she shrugged.

"Worth it," she declared, pulling a comb out of her pocket and trying in vain to straighten out her frazzled hair.

Tai dusted himself off. "So, is there anything in particular you two wanted to say to Red before you left?"

Velvet shook her head. "Not really," she admitted. "We just wanted to check on her and make sure she was doing okay."

"...Doing fine," Red said softly.

"Better than fine, I'd say," Coco replied. "You look a million times better, kiddo – like a huge weight's been taken off your shoulders. I mean, you actually look like you were able to get some real sleep for once! And you're not smiling anymore, but I can just tell that you look a lot better. Does it feel that way?"

Red tentatively nodded. She knew exactly what was responsible for her sudden change in demeanor, too – a huge did feel like it had been taken off her shoulders, in more ways than one.

"...Good to see them again," she said.

"I'll bet. How are your injuries? They feeling any better?"

Again, the wolf nodded. "...Doctors might let me leave today."

"No fooling? Well, once you're out, we're heading into town – I've gotta get you some new clothes; the old ones are kinda ruined."

Coco had clearly intended her comment to be lighthearted, but it didn't have that effect. Immediately, Red's expression fell, and she looked down at her feet.

"...Not just my blood on them," she said softly.

Coco blinked in surprise, a look of horror slowly crossing her face. "Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it like that! It's not your fault! Please, don't be sad!"

She took a step forward, but Velvet stopped her with an outstretched hand. Turning to Tai, she said, "Sorry; Coco has a bad habit of-"

Tai just shook his head. "No, please don't feel bad – it was a simple mistake, I get it. Red's just… not in a good place right now. She's… volatile."

Coco's shoulders slumped. She let out a sigh, then opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off by her and Velvet's scrolls buzzing. Both of them retrieved their respective devices, their mouths straightening when they read the messages on them.

Again, Coco sighed. "That's our cue to leave. Again, I'm really sorry about-"

"Really, don't feel bad," Tai said. "I know you didn't mean it." He stood up straight. "When you come back, could you stop by again? Red could use some friends right now."

Both girls nodded. "Of course," Velvet said. She turned to Red and gave her a wave. "We'll see you when we get back, okay?"

The wolf didn't respond, instead continuing to stare at her legs blankly while Yang ran a hand through her hair. Velvet frowned, her ears drooping, and she wordlessly stepped out into the hall. Coco followed behind her, the whole time cursing herself under her breath, only interrupting to give Red a quick goodbye and a muttered apology before leaving.

"Well, that could have gone better," Qrow said aloud.

"Qrow," Tai said harshly.

"Well, it could've." He frowned. "And we were making good progress, too."

"Somehow, I doubt that this is something that's going to be solved in a single morning. It's not fair to blame her for this, and you know it."

"Progress…?" Red asked.

Tai stepped forward, gently taking hold of one of her hands. "We… know about your plans," he stated. "What you intend to do, that is. Ozpin's video told us everything."

"We're worried about you, Red," Yang admitted. "We're afraid you might try to hurt yourself again."

Red looked away, exhaling. "...What I deserve."

"Don't say that," Tai harshly rebuked. "Sweetie, it's not your fault."

"How is it not my fault?" Ruby spat. "They would all still be alive if not for me."

"You were forced into it and didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice."

"Hardly," Qrow said. "You were force-fed propaganda for years, brainwashed into becoming something you never would have been otherwise. The only person blaming you for that is yourself; everyone else knows better."

Qrow stood up, then gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Red flinched, continuing to look away. Sighing, Qrow continued.

"Ozpin called General Ironwood. He said the General wanted to arrest you and try you for the things you did. When Ozpin told him what had happened to you, you know what he did?" Red shook her head. "He immediately changed his mind. Red, General Ironwood has more reason to hate you than anybody here, yet even he can't bring himself to blame you for anything you did. Do you see what I'm trying to say?"

Hesitantly, Red nodded. Qrow sighed, bringing his hand up to ruffle her hair. She flinched, flicking her ears, but otherwise didn't react.

"I don't think you believe me, but that's okay. We'll convince you one way or the other."

The door to the room opened, causing them all to turn towards the noise. Several nurses and a doctor were standing there, all of them staring at Red.

"We're here to check her injuries," the doctor said. "Would you all mind stepping out for bit? We shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

The three of them spared a glance towards Red, but eventually nodded.

"We'll be right outside," Taiyang said before leaning in and giving her a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

"We're going to have to do something," Qrow said as soon as the door shut behind them.

"Like what?" Yang asked.

"Well, for starters, just spending time around her would be good. It won't be enough, but it's a start."

"Problem is, she hates herself," Tai pointed out sadly. "I don't even know where to start with that."

They all nodded silently. After a moment, Qrow turned to Yang.

"What does she like to do?"

"Not much," Yang admitted. "She goes to class, trains, and reads. Our whole team has been pulled out of class until further notice, she can't do much training because she's injured and because all of her weapons were left behind at the compound, and reading isn't exactly a group activity."

"Great..." Qrow sighed. "Any ideas?"

Taiyang thought for a bit, then stood up straight. "Outside of getting her to meet with Ozpin? Nothing yet."

Before the others could say anything further, the door opened. The medical team stepped out, the doctor pulling his surgical mask off his face as he turned to look at them.

"Well?" Qrow asked.

"For someone who was clinically dead, she looks good," the doctor said. After a moment for everyone to breathe a sigh of relief, he continued. "The laceration on her leg has healed up nicely, as have her bullet wounds – those stitches can be safely removed in a few days. Her stomach is going to take longer to heal; be sure she doesn't do anything too strenuous until it's completely fixed in about a week. It will leave a horrible scar, but that's a small price to pay given the alternative.

"Her ribs, meanwhile, will need to stay wrapped for at least a week. There will be some pain and shortness of breath, but so long as she takes her medicine, it shouldn't be too bad."

"And her eye?" Taiyang asked.

"That's where she got lucky. Thankfully it was just some shrapnel, and it wasn't moving too fast. We pulled it all out, then stitched up her eye. Those stitches will dissolve on their own in about three weeks, so there will be no need to come back and get them removed."

"What about her vision? Is there any lasting damage?"

The doctor shook his head. "None that we could find. Again, she got lucky. She'll have to wear the medicated patch for a few more days, but beyond some short-term tenderness and sensitivity to light, there shouldn't be any complications once it's gone, and even then only for a bit."

The three of them relaxed. "When can she leave the hospital?" Yang asked.

"As soon as we get a wheelchair in here to carry her out, and some crutches for her to use until her leg is better."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yang took off running. She returned not even a minute later with a wheelchair in tow, along with a pair of crutches tucked under her arm.

Taiyang frowned. "Tell me you didn't just take those from anywhere."

"Oh, please. I asked a nurse and she told me where to get them. Honestly, you treat me like I'm some kind of delinquent."

"Well, you did beat down an entire bar," Qrow pointed out, slurring his words slightly.

Yang blanched, and Tai's frown deepened. "What was that?" he asked.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang protested.

Qrow blinked. "...Oh, whoops. Sorry, Firecracker; forgot he didn't know."

"I feel like I should be seething with rage, but at this point, I really don't care so long as you're okay," Tai deadpanned. "That being said, you're grounded. No trips into Vale for two weeks… after Ozpin starts letting you all leave campus again, of course."

Yang pouted, and Qrow snickered. "Says the man who put the entire Atlas council in the emergency room and earned himself a lifetime ban from an entire kingdom as a result."

"Don't act like they didn't deserve it after what they did to Summer. Now, c'mon; I want to see Red again."

Nobody argued. The three of them stepped back into the room. Red perked up upon seeing them, and they each gave her a smile.

"Hey, honey," Taiyang said. "It's time for you to leave the hospital. Are you ready to go?"

The wolf nodded. He brought the wheelchair over to her, then gently picked her up and placed her in it.

"...Can walk on my own."

"I know, sweetie. But they won't let you leave unless you're in a wheelchair. Just sit back and let us take over for now, okay?"

Red offered no further protests, instead settling into her chair and letting her father push her through the hallways of Beacon's hospital wing. After a few minutes of walking, the four of them emerged out into the courtyard. Red blinked as the cool air hit her face for the first time in days, sighing as the scent of the outdoors filled her nose.

"That's step one," Yang said. "Crutches next."

"...Do I have to…?"

"Unless you want to split your stitches open, yes."

Yang handed Qrow the crutches, then moved over to Red's front. Gripping under the wolf's arms, Yang gently pulled her to her feet, then took the crutches from Qrow and handed them to her. To her surprise, Red seemed to know how to use them already.

"You sure you don't need anyone to show you what to do with those?" Yang asked.

Red shook her head. "No… used them before, in the White Fang. Had to after training sometimes."

"That bastard..." Tai hissed under his breath. "If I ever see him again..."

"Don't," Red warned. "He's a lot stronger than all of you. I won't let you fight him."

"And we won't let you fight him, either," Qrow said sternly.

The alcohol was still on his breath, enough that it was starting to make her worried. Still, there were other things to worry about. Red said nothing further, instead looking down at the floor. Tai sighed, his anger disappearing, then rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, forget about that," he said. "Let's focus on something else, like getting you some clothes. I'm sure you want to get out of that hospital gown."

The wolf hesitated. "...Clothes are in my room."

"Okay, let's go get 'em."

"...Weiss might be there."

"I'll go," Yang offered immediately. "Did you have any requests?"

Red went to shake her head, then stopped herself. "...Cloak. Don't care what I wear underneath."

"Got it. I'll be right back."

She took off, all while Tai and Qrow eyed Red with surprise.

"You like cloaks?" Tai asked, earning a nod. His expression softened, and he looked around, his gaze settling on the nearby gardens. "Hey, why don't we wait for her over there? There's something I want to share with you, Red."

The ex-assassin didn't offer any arguments. The three of them began moving towards the gardens, though Red only made it a few steps before Qrow swept her up into a princess carry. She gave him a confused glance, and he merely shrugged.

"Faster this way."

She didn't protest his logic. Moments later, the three of them settled onto a bench in front of an array of colorful flowers, Red in the middle and her father and uncle on either side of her. Tai looped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her close; she leaned in, resting her head against his shoulder. Qrow, meanwhile, crossed one leg over the other and folded his arms across his chest. Once they were settled, Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll, then opened a file on it before showing it to Red.

"Your comment about cloaks made me think of something. Do you remember this?" he asked.

Red looked at the picture, almost immediately finding herself stunned into silence. Shakily, she nodded, sniffling as she did so.

It was a picture from her fifth birthday party. There was her in the middle, in the process of blowing out the candles on her cake. Yang was right next to to her, a wide smile showing off a pair of missing front baby teeth, the young blonde having lost them the night before when the two of them had been playing and she had tripped. On her right was her father, carrying a large present in his hands. And right behind her and Yang…

Red's gaze settled on her mother's face. Summer was smiling widely, one hand looped around her and the other around Yang. The adult wolf Faunus was grinning like it was the happiest moment in her life. Sniffling once more, Red brought a hand up to brush at her eye.

Tai gently rubbed her shoulder, then swiped one finger across his scroll. "How about this one?"

It was another image, this one from a few months before the last. Her and Yang were once again the focal point, though this time they were both covered in mud – a product of Yang's desire to play outside even though it had been raining heavily just a bit before. They were both grinning widely, uncaring of the fact that they were covered in filth. Behind them, Summer stood, the front of her white cloak stained with mud up to Yang's height and her face buried in one hand; Red could see the corners of her mouth tilted upwards in an amused smile.

Again, Tai swiped on his scroll. This time, it was a more subdued picture. Summer was sitting on the couch, fast asleep. She had one arm draped around a much younger Yang, who was leaned against her, similarly asleep. In her other arm, she held a red-and-black-haired toddler bundled up in blankets.

Red swallowed the lump in her throat, then looked up at her father. "...Why are you showing me this…?"

Taiyang sighed, pocketing his scroll. "Summer always loved you and your sister. No matter what, that would never change. You two were the light of her life."

Red shifted uncomfortably. "...She wouldn't love me if she were here."

"That's not true," Tai said gently. "I knew Summer better than anyone. She could never hate you. If she were here, she would be blaming herself for not protecting you."

"B-but it's not her fault!" Red protested. "She tried, but-"

"I know, sweetie," Taiyang cut in. "But trust me when I say that Summer would still blame herself, even if nobody else ever would."

"Sound familiar?" Qrow asked.

Red stared, dumbfounded. Speechless, she looked away.

She wanted to tell them that it was different for her. Her mother had actually been a good person – she hadn't turned into a killer just because someone had told her to. Red wasn't like her at all. She wanted to say that, but she couldn't – she knew they would never accept it, no matter how true it was.

Tai seemed to sense her discomfort and sighed, leaning in to kiss her on her forehead. "Red, believe me when I say that no matter what you think, Summer would still love you, the same way we all still do."

Red choked back a sob, blinking away tears. Tai brought his other arm up, pulling her into a hug.

"It's not your fault, honey," he said gently. "Please believe me."

"I-I'm sorry..." Red said, her voice shaking. "I just…"

Tai didn't let her finish, instead choosing to tighten the hug and let her gently cry into his shoulder. He exchanged a glance with Qrow.

Both of them knew this wasn't going to be easy, but neither one was going to give up.

* * *

Blake looked up from her book, frowning. Across from her, Weiss continued to lie on her bed, lost in thought and staring up at nothing. It didn't take the ravenette much to guess what the heiress was thinking about. And while the two of them weren't friends by any means even if they were now far from enemies, Weiss had her sympathy, both because of what she had gone through and because she now had nobody to help her through it – Coco's team was away on a mission, and Jaune's team was busy preparing for their own. Yang, meanwhile, was busy with her family, and Red… well, the less said about Red, the better.

Honestly, it was actually really sad. Weiss was clearly very lonely and unsure of what to do. The only thing stopping Blake from reaching out to her, their lack of a mutual friendship notwithstanding, was the fact that she didn't want to risk jeopardizing what they already had – it was a tenuous relationship even before the incident with the White Fang, to say nothing of what it was like now.

The door suddenly opened, causing both girls to look up. Upon seeing that it was Yang, Weiss sat bolt upright.

"Yang!"

"Hey, Weiss," Yang said, not even stopping as she moved over to her closet. "Feeling better?"

"Actually, I was hoping we could talk?"

To her dismay, Yang shook her head. "Can't; I'm just here to get clothes for Red, since she's still in her gown. I'm sorry, but can we talk later?"

Weiss deflated. "...Sure."

"Great." Having retrieved Red's clothes, Yang slung them over her shoulder before walking over and giving Weiss a one-armed hug. "See you later, Weiss."

"...Yeah. See you."

The blonde stepped out of the room, leaving Weiss and Blake alone once more. Weiss watched her go, looking very much like a kicked puppy. Blake's mouth tightened. Weiss went to lie down, and Blake sighed, marking her place in her book before standing up and moving over to her.

Tenuous relationship or not, she was tired of watching this. The risk of ruining everything was worth it if it helped Weiss feel better.

"Alright," she said, approaching Weiss' bed and taking a seat. "What's on your mind?"

Weiss blinked, looking at her with a confused expression. Blake sighed. "I know we're not exactly friends, but we are teammates, and we agreed to be cordial to each other. Something is clearly bothering you, and I can tell you want to talk to somebody about it. I'm willing to listen."

Weiss looked unsure, but she eventually sighed, nodding. "...I'm just not sure what to think, you know?"

"About Red, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Weiss, she had every chance to try to kill you here at Beacon, and she never tried to."

"I know, but..."

She trailed off. Blake gave her a sympathetic expression. "Do you blame her?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, I don't. I mean, how could I? She was forced into it as a child – there's no way I can blame her for it. But at the same time..."

"You're still afraid of her," Blake observed.

The heiress nodded. "Yes."

Blake frowned. It wasn't exactly rational of her, but Blake could see why she felt that way – Red was responsible for the source of her trauma, so it was understandable.

Weiss looked down at the floor. "I just… could really use a friend right now, you know? I wish Yang was here… I get why she can't be, but still..."

Blake wished that, too – Yang being here would make this whole thing a lot easier. They both understood why she couldn't be here, of course, but that didn't make things any easier. Still, in Yang's absence, someone else was going to have to step up.

And it was starting to look like that someone was going to have to be Blake. As uncomfortable as it would be for both of them, she couldn't deny that Weiss needed a friend, and one on her team at that.

Sighing, Blake stood up. "Right, I think that's enough." Weiss gave her a confused look, and she added, "You're too caught up in your own thoughts. You need a break. So, the two of us are going to do something together."

"...Okay?" Weiss said, confused. "What did you have in mind?"

Well, she hadn't outright refused, so this was already going better than what Blake had in mind.

The heiress sighed, motioning to her legs. "I can't exactly do much thanks to my legs, and I doubt Ozpin is going to let us off-campus any time soon."

That was a problem. Blake considered taking her to Beacon's library, but Weiss needed something to take her mind off of things, not another chance to get lost in her own thoughts. Unfortunately, that didn't leave much of chance for anything else – Weiss couldn't exactly work out, and neither of them could go into town, either. Looking around, Blake's gaze settled on Gambol Shroud, lying sheathed on her bed. A thought popped into her head – not a very good one, but in the absence of anything else, what else did she have?

Sighing in resignation, Blake turned to Weiss. "We're going shooting."

Weiss blinked. "...Shooting?"

"Yes, shooting. You interested?"

Weiss looked like she didn't know what to think. Blake didn't blame her – no doubt it was something she had never done before. Plus, even for a pair of Huntresses, it was a bit of a weird request – most people at Beacon were past the point of simply visiting a gun range, and while Beacon did have a range to practice on, it was barely used compared to the combat arenas.

Then, to Blake's surprise, she nodded softly. "...I mean, I'm willing to give it a chance… If nothing else, it's something to do, I guess..."

Blake exhaled. "Okay, let's go."

She helped Weiss into her wheelchair, slid Gambol Shroud onto its spot on her back, and then the two of them set off.

_This is either the best idea you've ever had or the worst, _Blake thought to herself as they went.

* * *

Blake had hoped that stepping into the gun range would have made things less awkward, but it had only made things even worse. Weiss seemed to feel the same way if the expression on her face was any indication – clearly, she was only here because the alternative was even worse. Sighing, Blake wheeled her over to the nearest lane and set her weapon down on the table, along with several spare magazines and boxes of bullets.

"Right," Blake began, "Have you ever fired a gun before?"

Unsurprisingly, Weiss shook her head. "The closest I've ever gotten is using certain kinds of Dust with Myrtenaster."

"Well, this is a bit different." Blake picked up Gambol Shroud, ejecting the magazine and clearing the chambered round, which she put back into the mag. "First off, the rules: don't point it at anything you don't want to destroy, keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire, be aware of your target and what's behind it, and the gun is always loaded."

"What do you mean?"

"What?"

"That last one. What do you mean, the gun is always loaded?"

"It's a figure of speech. It means to always treat the weapon like it's loaded even if you just unloaded it."

"Any reason for that?"

"Because the one time you're absolutely, unflinchingly sure you've completely emptied it will be the one time you left a round in the chamber by mistake, and then someone is going to get hurt."

"Oh." Weiss paused. "Anything else I need to know?"

Honestly, it was amazing how well Weiss was taking this whole thing – not a single complaint so far, even if she clearly wasn't at all into it. Blake picked up Gambol Shroud along with one of the magazines, offering both to Weiss; the heiress carefully took both in her hands, staring at them with uncertainty before looking up at Blake.

"Go ahead and load up," Blake said, pointing at the mag. "That part goes into the grip – push it in until it locks into place."  
Weiss nodded, doing as she was told. "Am I ready to shoot now?"

"Not quite. Pull back on the slide – that's the top part. Be careful around the blade."

The heiress did as she was instructed, pulling back on the slide until it wouldn't go back anymore, then letting it slam forward. She looked at Blake to be sure she did the right thing, and the ravenette nodded.

"Alright, you've got a round chambered and fourteen in reserve. Normally there'd be a safety to disengage, but there isn't one on my gun."

"There isn't?"

"Well, there is, but it's just another piece mounted on the trigger. It keeps the gun from going off on its own, but it won't stop it from going off if you pull the trigger."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Okay. So, am I ready to fire?"

"Yes. Just aim downrange at the target and pull the trig-"

Blake was cut off by a gunshot. Weiss jumped, clearly not expecting the noise, though she thankfully managed to keep a hold on Gambol Shroud. A red blush crept across her face.

"Louder than I expected," Weiss explained.

"Ten-millimeter tends to be somewhat snappy," Blake offered. "Thankfully, aura protects our ears, otherwise the noise would damage them. Do you want to take another shot?"

Weiss nodded, and the cat Faunus motioned for her to go for it. Weiss took a deep breath, raised the gun, and fired again. The round completely missed the target, causing Blake to raise an eyebrow.

"Feel free to keep going, Weiss. I've got plenty of bullets."

Again, the heiress shot; again, her round landed outside the target. Something was definitely up considering they were only shooting at about seven yards.

"Hold on, Weiss," Blake said, stepping up next to her. "Can you tell me how you're shooting?"

"I'm… pulling the trigger?" Weiss offered, confused.

"No, I meant your technique. What are you aiming at?"

"The target."

Blake resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Okay, _how _are you aiming?"

Weiss shrugged. "I'm kind of just eyeballing it, to be honest. Not really sure how else to operate it."

"You're not using the sights?"

"Sights?"

Blake paused. After a moment, she sighed. "...Okay, I think a bit more instruction is required."

The next ten minutes were occupied with Blake teaching her teammate basic shooting technique, doing things such as walking her through how to aim, how to hold the gun, and adjusting her stance. Finally, at the end of it, Blake stepped back from the firing line.

"Try again, Weiss. See if you can get it in the center."

Weiss nodded, then brought the gun up for the first time in ten minutes. She pulled the trigger, and Blake blinked in surprise when she saw the perfect bullseye.

Weiss turned to her. "Was that good?"

"Uh, yeah," Blake said, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Mind if I try again?"

"Go right ahead."

Over the next few minutes, Weiss fired off the rest of the mag in silence, each hit striking close to where the bullseye was. It was impressive for a beginner. When the slide finally locked back, Weiss placed it down on the table and turned towards Blake.

"Is that it?"

"Only if you want it to be," Blake said. "We can keep going if you'd like."

"...I don't know if I'm comfortable with using all your ammo, to be honest."

"That's alright. We can leave if you want."

"Actually..." Weiss said, somewhat bashfully. "...It's more enjoyable than I thought it would be. At the very least, it's tough to focus on my thoughts when I'm so focused on trying to hit the target. I just don't like using all your ammo."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure we can rent some weapons and ammo from the school. I can go check."

"Please," Weiss said. "I'd go with you, but..."

She motioned to her legs. Blake nodded. "Don't worry about it, Weiss. I'll just be a minute. Do you have any requests?"

Weiss went to shrug, but seemed to reconsider it. "If they have something similar to Myrtenaster-"

"I'll get it," Blake promised, stepping out the firing lane and heading towards the front of the range.

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, Blake came back, carrying a few new guns and boxes of bullets in her arms. Approaching Weiss' lane, she dumped everything on the table, smirking slightly when she saw Weiss' bewildered expression.

"Figured I'd get a little bit of everything for you to try," Blake said. She shrugged. "Who knows, maybe by the end of all this you'll be getting one of your own."

Weiss sighed. "...Maybe it's more likely than you think."

Blake's grin disappeared. "Something wrong?"

"It's…" Weiss shook her head. "...Back when Red saved me, she had to leave me behind at one point. She tried to give me a gun to defend myself with, but I didn't know how to use it. I've never felt so defenseless in my life, not even back in Atlas."

"Weiss," Blake said gently, interrupting her. "That won't happen again, okay? We're all here for you."

Weiss blinked, then nodded. "...Thank you."

She looked down at the table, focusing on a revolver. Picking it up, she turned it over in her hand. "So, how does this one work? It looks similar to Myrtenaster."

Seeing that she wasn't as uneasy as she had been, Blake relaxed. "I'll show you."

The next few hours were spent walking Weiss through how the various different guns Blake had rented worked. Eventually, Weiss zeroed in on her favorite – the revolver she had picked up from earlier. Once she had narrowed it down, she refused to shoot anything else, saying the revolver simply felt the most natural to her.

The heiress finished off what was left in the gun. Next to her, Blake emptied the rest of her magazine, then set Gambol Shroud down on the table. Weiss flicked open the cylinder of her handgun, and after confirming that it was empty, put it down and turned towards Blake.

"Well, that was… more fun than I expected," the heiress admitted. "Plus, I suppose learning to shoot was something I was going to have to do eventually if I'm going to train as a Huntress."

Blake nodded. "Do you feel a bit better?"

"I do, actually. Thank you. I know we're not exactly friends, and you didn't have to do this-"

"You're my teammate, Weiss," Blake interrupted. "Even if we aren't friends, I'm not about to let you go through this alone… even if it is somewhat awkward right now."

"It's only going to be awkward at first."

Silence settled over the two of them. Finally, Weiss sighed.

"...I know it might be a bit too much to ask, but can we spend some more time together? I don't want to be alone…"

"It's not too much at all," Blake replied. She picked up Gambol Shroud, then placed it on her back. Motioning to the weapons on the table, she said, "Let me just return those, then we'll go get food or something."

Weiss nodded, and Blake set about gathering up the guns. She reached for the revolver, and out of the corner of her eye, saw a thoughtful expression come over the white-haired girl's face as she pulled out her scroll and began tapping away on it. Thinking nothing of it, Blake simply continued gathering up all the weapons, then stepped out for a moment to return them. Once that was done, she stepped back into the range, just in time to see Weiss put away her scroll. Stepping behind her, Blake began wheeling her towards the cafeteria, the whole time lost in thought.

Even just a few days ago, she would have considered spending this much time alone with Weiss to be like pulling teeth – they might not have been enemies anymore, but they were opposites on a fundamental level, and both of them had irreconcilable differences even if the two of them had agreed to keep their opinions to themselves for the sake of team cohesion. Now, though, Blake wasn't sure what to think. Sure, they had spent most of the time shooting, only pausing to make occasional small talk, but it had been far from painful. At times, it had been downright enjoyable, and not just because she could see that it was helping Weiss relax.

The two of them reached the cafeteria, and Blake shook her head. She was just being a good teammate, as was Weiss. There was nothing else to it. In the back of her head, though, she had to admit that the idea of being friends with Weiss wouldn't be that bad; the heiress had changed dramatically over the past few weeks. Still, that was nothing more than an idle thought.

There was just no way the two of them could be friends after all that had happened between them… or so she thought.

Somehow, no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, Blake couldn't help but feel like they were both forcing what was left of their animosity at this point.

* * *

Red shifted nervously in her borrowed bed. A few hours had passed since she had left the hospital, and the day had been quiet – she had expressed a desire to get a little extra sleep, so her dad had carried her over to the room that Ozpin had given him and Qrow, then left her alone. She was thankful for the solitude, even if sleep hadn't come easy – she was still a little uncomfortable around her family, and the last thing she wanted was to see Weiss right now. Getting away from it all for a bit had truly been a blessing, and the little bit of extra sleep she had managed to get towards the end was even more so.

Still, it had to come to an end eventually. About an hour after falling asleep, she was awakened by the door opening, and Yang stepping in. The two locked eyes; Yang blinked, surprised to find her awake, though her expression quickly relaxed.

"Did you sleep well?"

Not really, but she didn't want Yang to worry. Red nodded.

"That's good." Yang walked over to the bed, then gave her a quick hug before passing Red her crutches and helping her to her feet. "Ozpin has been talking with Dad and Uncle Qrow. Apparently, if it's okay with you, he'd like for the two of you to meet today."

"Will all of you be there?"

"That depends. Do you want us to be?"

Red shook her head. "N-not yet..."

She had already revealed what was in her head once, and that had been hard enough. It was clear that they all wanted her to get help from Ozpin, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to talk if they were all there with her.

Her uncertainty and shame must have shown on her face, because Yang was at her side immediately.

"Hey," Yang said gently, "You don't have anything to feel bad about, okay? We all understand that this is hard for you. It's fine if you aren't ready for us to know what you're talking about with Ozpin."

"What if..." Red hesitated. "...What if I'm never ready?"

"That's okay, sis," Yang repeated. Again, she pulled her into a hug. The guilt came back full force, but Red found herself unable to say or do anything through the lump that had formed in her throat. "We'll love you no matter what."

Red said nothing, instead directing her gaze down to the floor. Yang broke the hug, then patted her on the shoulder. "So, do you want to meet with Ozpin?" The wolf nodded. "Alright, let's go."

The trip to Opzin's office took a bit more time than usual due to Red's use of crutches. Upon arriving, they found Taiyang and Qrow already waiting there. After a quick greeting, the two of them assured her that they would be waiting for her downstairs, then sent her on her way.

Exiting the elevator into Ozpin's office, Red found him waiting expectantly, two steaming mugs on his desk. His gaze traveled from his computer over to her.

"Miss Canis," he greeted. "I apologize for the sudden request, as well as the fact that we couldn't meet under happier circumstances."

Red nodded, limping over to the one good seat across from him. Settling into her chair, Ozpin passed her one of the mugs.

"Coffee. Before she left, Miss Adel made sure to make me aware of how you like it. I hope you find it acceptable."

The wolf brought the mug to her lips and took a sip. It wasn't bad – mostly black, with a little bit of sugar and cream. Now that she thought about it, it could have used a bit more of each, but it was still good. More importantly, it gave her something to grasp – holding it helped keep her hands from shaking.

To say she was nervous was an understatement. This was the first time she was meeting with Ozpin since he had learned the truth, and while he had been lenient with her, there was no guarantee that he would continue to be, especially given that she had essentially been lying to him for months.

Despite her best efforts, Ozpin seemed to see that she was nervous. Frowning, he placed his mug down on the table.

"Please, relax," he gently said. "Rest assured, you aren't being punished."

"Why…?" Red asked.

"Because this isn't your fault," Ozpin bluntly stated. "I know you don't believe that, but it is the truth."

Red said nothing. Ozpin sighed. "You are not the only one to go through something like this, you know. And just like you, I never blamed any of the others for it, either."

"Others…?"

"Your uncle, and his sister. They came from a tribe of bandits before coming to Beacon, and both of them had a double-digit body count as of their first year due to partaking in raids back with their tribe. I would explain further, but this is something your uncle is best off personally talking about with you. Can you give me a promise that you will ask him soon after this is over?"

Red nodded, and Ozpin relaxed. "Good. Now then, let us begin."

"Where do you want to start?"

"From the beginning," Ozpin said, leaning forward in his seat.

"Tell me everything, Miss Canis."

* * *

Taiyang let out a dissatisfied grunt as he paced back-and-forth in the lobby. Every passing second brought with it more madness – he couldn't stand the idea of one of his daughters going through what was no doubt a very tumultuous time for her, all while he was unable to be by her side.

Yang and Qrow had gone off to spar at Qrow's request. It was very clear what he was trying to do – that is, keep Yang from freaking out the same way Taiyang was. They had both offered for him to come with them, but he couldn't, not when Red was so close and might need him. Thankfully, they had both understood, neither one arguing when he had opted to take a seat in one of the chairs in the lobby and simply wait for her.

Of course, it hadn't taken long for his fears to become too much for him to take, hence his pacing. He just couldn't keep his mind off of Red, and what she was going through right now – no doubt that Ozpin was having her recall everything that had happened to her in excruciating detail. He understood why it was necessary, but the thought that his little girl was going to have to relive her nightmare of a life all over again made him feel-

"Tai?"

At the sound of the voice, Taiyang instantly paused, turning towards its origin. "Glynda."

The deputy headmistress looked back at him from behind her glasses, her normally impassive and stern look replaced with one of concern. "You're pacing," she observed. "What's wrong?"

Tai couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. "That obvious, huh?"

"No offense, but you're not a hard man to read. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and I don't just mean the tattoo on your arm."

Placing the stack of folders she was carrying down on a nearby chair, she walked over to him, then gently forced him to sit before taking a seat next to him.

"Talk to me," she said. "It's clear there's something on your mind."

Taiyang blinked, surprised. "Um… sorry, but this seems a bit-"

"Out-of-character for me?" He nodded. Her expression softened a bit more. "It is, I admit, but what good would it do here? You aren't a child in need of disciplining, last I checked."

"True," he conceded.

"Then start talking. It's clear you need to vent, and I'm all ears."

Taiyang was reluctant at first, but eventually he sighed. "...I'm worried about her."

"As you should be," Glynda instantly replied. "That poor girl has been through so much, it's a shame that she isn't completely broken. I suppose that's just proof that she's truly Summer's daughter – I don't think anyone but her and Summer would have been able to make it through the way she did."

Taiyang's face fell. "She almost didn't..."

"Hey," Glynda said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "She's here now, that's all that matters. That means she can get better. The only way things end like that is if we do nothing, and I know you and your family well enough to know that you'll do whatever it takes to reach her."

"I know, but… damn it, I just… I feel so bad, you know?" He sighed irritably. "My little girl is in there, suffering in a way that I can't do anything to help with."

"That's not true," she admonished. "Just because her problems are in her head doesn't mean you can't do anything for her. Do you have any idea how much you simply being here and telling her you love her has done for her? For the first time since I've seen Red enter the school, she looks somewhat _happy. _You might not be able to tell because you haven't seen her for a long time, but I'm her teacher, and I see her almost every day. And I can assure you, compared to how she used to look, she looks positively _radiant _now."

"T-that's..." Tai trailed off, a lump forming in his throat. "...How bad-"

Glynda's expression turned sympathetic. "...Bad," she admitted. "The poor girl was walking around with a permanent thousand-yard stare. She wasn't sleeping, either – she had constant dark rings under her eyes. She was jumpy and anxious, constantly checking over her shoulder for something that wasn't there."

"And… she's a bit better now?"

"She's a _lot _better now," Glynda assured. "You have no idea just how much you've managed to change her in the short time you've been here. Trust me, Tai – you're doing as much as you can in this situation." To his surprise, Glynda actually cracked a faint, barely-noticeable smile. "Compared to how she's been treated in the past, you're practically spoiling her."

"Spoiling her…?"

The deputy headmistress nodded. "I don't mean to make it sound like a bad thing, of course – after all that she's been through, she deserves to be spoiled a bit. Anything to show her just how much she's loved."

Again, Taiyang sighed. "It's just… it's hard," he admitted. "I thought I was ready for anything, but this…?" He shook his head. "I don't know where to even begin with this..."

"Then here's some advice," Glynda replied. "Whatever you're doing now? Keep doing it. Tai, listen to me – you're doing _great. _You're giving her everything she needs that you're capable of giving her, and you're letting Ozpin – a professional – handle the parts you can't. I don't think you can do much more than you already are. You're a good father, and you're doing everything you can for her."

"It doesn't feel like enough."

"It will be," she assured. "Give it time, and let Ozpin pick up the slack. Trust me, you'll start to notice the changes sooner than later."

Taiyang wasn't sure what to say to that. Part of him wanted to try arguing with her some more… but for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed, then turned to Glynda and gave her a faint grin.

"Thanks, Glynda."

She waved him off. "No thanks necessary – I'm merely helping out an old colleague."

"You can call us friends, you know. I'm pretty sure we're friends at this point, especially given that you were a guest at both my weddings."

Glynda flushed red, pushing her glasses up. "Y-yes, well..." Standing up, she picked up the folders from the chair next to her. "...I'm sorry to cut this talk a bit short, but I have important paperwork to do, and Gods know Ozpin won't be doing it – I swear, I'm the only one actually keeping this school running most days."

Taiyang chuckled. "I can believe that. Thanks for the help, Glynda."

The deputy headmistress nodded softly before walking away. Taiyang watched her go, and once she was out of view, relaxed a bit. Her talk had definitely helped a lot, though there was still plenty of doubt in his mind.

He would just have to see how Red's session with Ozpin would went, and from there, do what he could for her. That was all he could do, after all.

* * *

A few hours later, Red emerged from the elevator, looking somewhat downcast. To everyone's surprise, Ozpin followed after her.

"Oz?" Qrow asked. "There something you have to talk about with us?"

"Indeed, there is," the headmaster said. He motioned to Yang. "Miss Xiao Long, why don't you and Miss Canis go get something to eat? It is late, and something tells me neither of you have eaten much today."

"Sure," Yang said, approaching her sister. "C'mon, Red."

The two of them stepped out, leaving just the three men in the lobby. Once they were out if earshot, Tai turned towards Ozpin.

"What do we need to know? Did it go well? How bad is she?"

"It is hard to answer all of that after just one session."

"But you have a hunch."

"Indeed, I do. In addition, Miss Canis has expressed a desire for me to share the results of our sessions together with you – she is uncomfortable with you sitting in and with telling you herself, but she still wants you to be aware of what happens in them, so I shall see to it that it happens."

"Cut to the chase, Oz," Qrow stated, impatient. "What's the deal?"

"She spent ten years training under a psychopath, and five of them as a child soldier. I think you can guess."

"PTSD?"

"To an extent."

Tai brought one hand up to rub at his eyes. Qrow brought one hand up and patted him on the shoulder, earning a grateful look in return.

"Anything else?" Qrow asked.

"Depression, anxiety, self-esteem so low it would be more accurate to refer to it as self-hatred… everything you would expect a young girl to suffer after going through what she did."

"And you can help her?" Tai questioned.

"Yes, I can. If it's okay with you, I would like to start her off on some medication that I believe would-"

"Do it, please. Whatever you think will help."

Oz nodded in understanding. "Very well, I will fill out a prescription for her immediately. However, you two should monitor her for any adverse side effects."

"We will," Qrow promised.

"Oz, there's something I have to ask," Tai implored.

"Ask away."

"Do you think she's fit to stay as a Huntress?"

Silence settled over the other two. Qrow and Tai exchanged glances, then looked at Ozpin. The headmaster sighed.

"...That is a difficult question to answer at this stage," Ozpin admitted.

"Please," Tai begged. "If you think she's not, we'll take her out of Beacon immediately. She can stay at home with me, maybe get into a regular school on Patch and get a degree there or something. Whatever's best for her, Yang and I will support her in it."

"Same," Qrow said. "If being a Huntress is bad for her mental state, then she shouldn't be here."

Ozpin considered their words, then sighed once more. "...Again, it's tough to say this early. But I would wait before taking any kind of drastic action – we can work to overcome her trauma, and her friends are all at Beacon. Taking her away from them may only exacerbate the problem, even if she's close enough to see them occasionally outside of school. Plus, as odd as it is to say, putting her in with civilians may be even worse than keeping her here – at least at Beacon, she has a support network of people who understand her. The odds of her getting that with civilians are slim, to say the least. They barely understand Huntsmen; asking them to try and understand her is a very tall order."

Tai's shoulders slackened. "I understand. It feels wrong to say, but I'm willing to wait. Anything to ensure that we're making the right choice."

"We trust you, Oz," Qrow added. "We know you'll do the right thing."

Ozpin nodded. "I will see to it that I do. Now, I have nothing else. If you'll excuse me, I have a report to finish."

With that, the three men went their separate ways.

Only when he was in the elevator did Ozpin allow his neutral demeanor to fall, replaced with one of remorse.

* * *

A short while later, and the family was back together again, Red and Yang having returned from getting food… not that the wolf had done much eating – talking about her past had killed her appetite. Yang had tried to get her to eat something, but she simply hadn't had the energy to do more than nibble at her food. Idly, she was aware of her sister reporting this to her father; he turned, a concerned look on his face, and addressed her.

"Do you feel okay, Red?"

The wolf looked down at the floor, shaking her head. Her session with Ozpin, while productive, had brought all her feelings back once more. Again, she found herself crushed beneath the weight of all her regrets.

There was a way out – she had discovered it just the day before. It was just a matter of asking. Of course, that was the problem – asking felt unnatural, even wrong. It felt like she was requesting something she didn't deserve, regardless of the fact that she knew her family would readily give in to her request if she simply vocalized it.

Her father frowned. "Red, honey, is there something we can do to help?"

The wolf hesitated. "...I..."

It was on the tip of her tongue. Part of her wanted to say it, to stop her own suffering before it became overpowering, but another part kept reminding her that however she felt, she deserved to feel that way. To her, asking for relief was as selfish as her family readily providing for her in spite of her past was confusing. Thus, she was left in conflict with herself – one side telling her one thing, and another telling her something else.

Eventually, one of them won out.

Shaking her head, Red sighed, not looking up from the ground. "...Can we go somewhere quiet? And… can you hold me when we get there...? Would that be okay...?"

Her own request surprised her; it wasn't something she had consciously wanted to ask, it had just slipped out. It felt wrong to say it, for so many reasons. As soon as the words had left her mouth, the guilt came back once more.

"Sure, honey," Taiyang said immediately. He turned to Qrow and Yang. "We'll go to the room Ozpin has for us. Sound good?"

Both of them nodded, and Taiyang wasted no time in scooping Red up into his arms and carrying her towards the room. She was surprised at first, but after a few seconds, settled into his grasp.

As wrong as it felt to be shown compassion like this, she found it impossible to turn it down. And that left her feeling absolutely awful.

Eventually, the four of them arrived at the dorm room. Qrow unlocked the door and they stepped inside, Taiyang immediately carrying Red over to one of the beds. He climbed in himself, then made enough room for her as well; she settled in next to him, leaning against him as he gently pulled her close with one arm and kissed her between her ears.

"Feel comfortable?" he asked.

Red nodded slightly. Again, none of this felt right for someone like her, but her desire for love won out over her feelings of guilt. Sighing, she moved closer to her father, then closed her eyes. She wasn't tired in the slightest, but it felt nice – _too _nice, in fact – to simply be close to her dad again after so long.

Taiyang suddenly shifted slightly, causing her to open her one good eye and give him a questioning glance. He smiled down at her.

"I brought something for you," he said. "Do you mind if I get it? It's in my bag."

She didn't want to let him go, but she nodded all the same, knowing he wouldn't be long. He ruffled her hair, then stood up and walked over to his bag, retrieving a bundle of red cloth from it.

"I wanted to give you this earlier, but I never got the chance," he began. "Do you remember when you were younger? You used to love playing with Summer's cloak. Eventually, she promised to get you one of your own at some point. She'd be happy to see that you got one yourself."

Red didn't reply, instead casting a glance down at what she was wearing. It was nothing fancy – just a brown cloak that Coco had bought for her – but the fact that it was a gift from a friend made her treasure it greatly. It was one of several that Coco had gotten for her – apparently, her mother had launched a line of cloaks, but they weren't selling all that well, so Coco would often just take whatever wasn't selling at the store and give it to her instead of keeping it in the back or on the shelf.

Just as well, because the cloak she had worn to the docks was stained beyond repair after what happened in the compound. It served its purpose of covering Weiss, but that hadn't spared it from being splashed with blood and gore during Red's rampage.

Shaking that thought from her head, Red turned back towards her father, who held up the bundle of red and unfolded it, revealing that it was a bright red cloak.

"Unfortunately, Summer never got the chance to make you one herself. However, this is the next best thing. White was always her favorite, but she had an array of different colors lined up in case she felt like changing things up."

Red's eyes widened. "Y-you mean..."

Tai grinned. "Yup – this is one of Summer's old cloaks. I think you should have it – it's what she would want."

The wolf felt her heart skip a beat. Frantically, she looked around the room, only to find that Yang and Qrow were both wearing similar grins to her father. Clearly, they were hoping that she'd be happy.

Unfortunately, it was the opposite.

Hanging her head, Red fidgeted uncomfortably in her spot on the bed. "I-it's nice of you, b-but I can't… could never..."

Immediately, Tai's grin faded. "Red, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"...E-everything," Red said, sniffling. "I… I d-don't understand why you're all treating me this way. H-how can you still care, after everything I did? I d-don't deserve your love, or to be reminded of M-Mom… You s-should hate me..."

Tai gently placed Summer's cloak down, then approached her and pulled her into a gentle embrace. "Shh," he said softly. "It's okay."

"I-it's not..."

"It will be." He leaned in, kissing her on the forehead. "I know that it's hard for you to accept, but none of us need a reason to love you – we just do, and we always will. And, as much as you may not want to admit it, you deserve to be loved – by us, and by your friends. There's nothing wrong with that – you have nothing to feel guilty about, no matter what you may think. Nothing will ever change that."

"It's unconditional, too," Qrow added. "No matter what you've done, or what you think of yourself, we'll always care about you. You and your sister are the two most important people in the world to your father and I, and that will always be the case."

Yang stepped in, putting her arms around both her dad and Red. "They're right, Sis," she said. "I get that you're confused, but there's really nothing to understand – we love you, and we don't need a reason for it other than you're family."

"Y-you barely know me..." Red stammered out. "T-the real me, that is..."

"Are you sure?" Tai asked. "Because I spent five years around you before the White Fang had a chance to fill your head full of lies, and I can confidently say that if it weren't for them, you'd be the same person I knew back then. As far as I'm concerned, that's the real you."

"Y-you're wrong..." Red softly countered. "I'm a k-killer… natural-born. It's who I am."

"That's not true."

"It is… I c-can't wear Mom's cloak – s-she was a good person, not like me..."

"Oh, honey…" Tai said, kissing her between her ears once more. "Come here."

Red didn't get a chance to say anything further, as her father picked her up and gently placed her back down in the bed, then laid next to her. He motioned for Yang to join them, which the blonde did, settling in on Red's other side. Red opened her mouth to say something, but Tai just shook his head.

"Just relax," he said gently. "Fall asleep if you want. But for now, I just want you to close your eyes and try to calm down."

He reached up with one finger, brushing away tears she didn't even know she'd started to shed. Sniffling, Red nestled herself further in the crook of his arm. Her gaze happened to meet with Qrow's, and she found him staring at her, deep in thought. Turning away, Red closed her eyes, trying her best to do what her father told her and just relax.

It was hard, especially since she wasn't tired at first, but eventually she managed to fall asleep in the grasp of her father and sister.

And while the voice in her head was still there, reminding her of just how little she deserved this, it was a lot fainter than it had been before.

* * *

That night, Weiss laid awake in her bed, unable to fall asleep. Her legs were throbbing in pain – dull aches this time; a far cry from the sheer agony they had been in when that man had first shattered her knees. They were getting better day by day, but there was still plenty of healing to do, and until they were completely fixed, there would still be some persistent aches and pains.

But despite that, she knew better than to blame them for why she couldn't sleep.

Weiss cast a glance to her side, frowning when she saw the empty bed standing there. She got that Yang had something else she needed to focus on right now, but that didn't change the fact that Weiss desperately missed her friend. The others had tried to make time for her, but they were so busy these days that their time was limited… and, at the risk of sounding ungrateful, none of them could replace Yang. She appreciated that all of them had tried, but it just wasn't the same, and it would be.

And then there was the other matter, the big Goliath in the room.

Weiss' gaze shifted past Blake's sleeping form and settled on the other unoccupied bed in the room. As it did, she felt her heart rate quicken, though she was careful to try and calm herself down.

It didn't make sense for her to fear Red, she knew – not only had Red refused to harm her at all during these months, but she had also been the only one that Red had ever let go during her tenure with the White Fang. That, plus the fact that Red had come back for her at the compound, even getting disemboweled and dying in the process… yes, Weiss knew that logically, she had nothing to fear from Red.

But that didn't change the fact that she was still conflicted about her.

It wasn't easy to break out of the mindset she had found herself in two years ago. Red had really hurt her, both on an emotional and a mental level. She sometimes still had nightmares about the attack on her convoy. The compound incident aside, it was still the worst moment of her life by far.

Which just made how she felt even worse.

She owed Red, she knew. The wolf had done something that Weiss could never repay. If it weren't for her, Weiss would have experienced far worse things than just torture. But even beyond that, it was clear from what Red had told them that if anyone was the real victim here, it was Red herself. She would never see it that way, but Weiss knew better. She had seen it in the wolf's eyes many times before, she realized – that resigned look, of someone who believed they were already dead and was simply carrying out the motions before death finally claimed them.

The thought of it made Weiss shudder. Red was only two years younger than her, yet she had been through so much… in fact, she was _still _going through so much, trapped in a personal hell of her own making.

Suddenly, the heiress became aware of the fact that her mind had just been made up for her. If she was already sympathizing with Red, then…

...Then she had nothing left to wonder about, she realized. That was it – that was the simple truth. On a certain level, it was tough to accept – that the person who had caused her so much pain was an even bigger victim than she was, and that Weiss' own pain paled in comparison to theirs… but at the same time, it brought with it a sense of closure. She could live with that, she decided. Now all that was left to do was help Red live with it. And as soon as she was ready, Weiss promised herself, that's exactly what she would do.

She couldn't ever repay Red for everything the wolf Faunus had done for her, but this would be a good start.

* * *

Ilia flinched as another scream echoed down the hall. It had been hours since they had started, yet she knew she would never get used to them.

Across from her, the large snake Faunus scoffed. "Ignore it – his punishment for failing."

The chameleon Faunus simply nodded, doing her best not to show how afraid of this man she was. She had seen him at work before, and the last thing she wanted was to be on the receiving end of it. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Adam – losing his arm was one thing, but having to sit through getting a cybernetic grafted to his shoulder was an entirely different kind of pain. She couldn't imagine the hell Adam was going through right now, having each individual nerve wired up to his new cybernetic, then having to troubleshoot it, and then having to do it all again if it wasn't working as intended… the very thought made her shudder. And to have to do it all with painkillers because they needed the anesthetic for those more wounded than him… it was almost too much.

At least, that was what Almost had said. She suspected that he simply wanted Adam to suffer for letting the wolf Faunus and the Schnee go, but she wouldn't dare voice that out loud.

"How is the plan progressing?" he asked, taking her by surprise.

Recovering, Ilia replied, "It's coming along. The Dust is being transported to Mountain Glenn without issue, and we have the train up and running."

"Excellent. We will launch the plan into motion shortly. Before then, you will head back to Menagerie."

"Menagerie? I thought I was needed here."

"You will be needed there more. We anticipate that Atlas will attempt to retaliate, and are attempting to shore up our defenses for if they do."

"I understand." Ilia frowned. "And the woman?"

Almost scoffed. "We will work with her for now, only because she is offering us the information we need to accomplish our goal. Once she is no longer useful, I will deal with her myself. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, get going – there is a boat waiting for you at the harbor carrying many of our brothers and sisters. You are in command of all of them."

She nodded. "I'll leave immediately."

He said nothing, merely waving her off before turning back towards the litany of documents scattered over the table. Ilia risked a glance over towards them, but couldn't discern much about what they were saying – Almost and Adam had been tight-lipped about what the plan would accomplish aside from allowing them to strike back at the humans in a substantial way. Obviously, they intended to crash the train through the primarily human-occupied portion of the Vale business distract, but that was where her knowledge of the plan ended.

Another scream echoed down the hall, causing her to wince. Without thinking, she quickened her pace. Whatever Almost and Adam had planned, it wasn't her place to question it, nor did she want to – she couldn't bring herself to care about what happened to a bunch of humans in the first place, but she was also afraid of what Almost would do to her if she showed dissent. There were several unanswered questions she had, such as what that black-haired woman in the red dress had to do with anything, but she was fine with not knowing given the circumstances.

Ilia exited the warehouse, breathing a sigh of relief as Adam's screams faded away more with every passing step. If Almost wanted her to go to Menagerie, then she was more than happy to.

Anything to get away from him.

* * *

**For some reason, while writing the scene with Tai and Glynda, all I could think of was 'Is there a ship name for these two?' I couldn't find one, so I decided to make one. So, from here on out, I will henceforth be referring to Tai/Glynda as 'Magic Dragon', because it not only fits the ship, but I'm also a big Sodom fan. Expect to see it used just this once and never again by anybody, not even me.**

**Anyway, there's not a whole lot to say. Pretty subdued compared to the last two chapters, but there's still plenty of emotional problems to go around. Poor Red is clearly still suffering but luckily they all know exactly what the problem is, and what they need to do in order to help her. That will go a very long way to helping her break out of this mindset she's trapped herself in.**

**Also, I know that a lot of you are excited for the talk with Ironwood, and trust me when I say that that's on its way. I will deliver, don't worry.**

**Besides that, there's more of the family moments I promised. Nothing like last chapter, but come on, there's no way I'm gonna match that any time soon. But there's some more Summer info for you, and some family time to go with it. **

**And speaking of last chapter, I have to say this: I asked for feedback, and holy shit, you guys fucking delivered. Thank you all so much. I honestly don't know what to say to show my appreciation, because whatever I try to come up with, it doesn't seem good enough. Seriously, you all shattered whatever expectations I had in terms of feedback, it was absolutely unreal. If your goal was to make me pumped to deliver a seriously kick-ass Part 2 as thanks, then congrats, you've accomplished that mission. **

**Basically, you're all wonderful people and I'm glad that I get to share my work with you.**

**Anyway, I don't have much else. Stay gold, everyone.**

**Next update: Saturday, July 18.**


	18. Chapter 18

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 18

* * *

When Red awoke, it was to an alarm chirping next to her head. She stirred slightly and went to move up, only for someone to gently put an arm on her shoulder and push her back down.

"Relax for a bit longer, sweetie," she heard her father say. "I'll go get you and Yang something from the cafeteria."

The wolf said nothing, simply nodding. Her father stood up and stepped out of the room, leaving just her and the still-sleeping Yang and Uncle Qrow. Looking around, Red found her crutches leaning against the wall a few feet away. Stretching out her leg, she winced when she felt a stinging pain shoot through it. Her stomach and chest similarly still screamed at her whenever she moved, but none of them were as intense as they had been when she had first woken up – if it weren't for the fact that she was distracted by dealing with the arrival of her family, the pain back then would have been debilitating.

A sound from the other side of the room caught her attention, and she watched as Qrow sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Then, to her shock, he pulled a flask out of his back pocket and took a long sip from it.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Qrow paused mid-drink, then slowly pulled the flask away from his lips. "...Sorry, Squirt – didn't realize you were awake."

"Are you drinking?"

Qrow looked like he wanted to say something else, but reluctantly sighed. "...Yeah, I am."

"Why?"

"Same reason why most Huntsmen drink – to forget." He waved her off. "Anyway, I'm not the important one here. Don't worry about me."

Red frowned. "...You all always say that," she muttered. "You're allowed to worry about me, but I'm not allowed to worry about you..."

"Because you're the one who needs it the most."

"I'm not drinking first thing in the morning."

Yang suddenly murmured in her sleep, drawing Red's attention. The wolf looked down at her sister, then back to Qrow.

"Do they know?"

Qrow frowned. "...Yeah. They've tried, but-"

The e-reader chimed, followed shortly after by the door opening. Tai came in, a tray of food balanced in one hand. The sound awoke Yang, who sat up with a wide yawn.

"Oh man, how long was I-" She paused upon seeing her father. "Food!"

"Good morning to you too, Firecracker," Tai said. "Sleep okay?'

"Yeah."

Both of them looked over to Red expectantly. The wolf Faunus shrank under their gaze, but nodded.

"Great," Tai said, setting the tray down. "Eat up, girls."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Yang said, reaching for two plates of eggs and passing one to her sister before beginning to eat. "So, what's the plan?"

"Not sure," Tai said, shrugging. "Figured we'd just stay together as a family for a bit. If you'd like, I could do some one-on-one training with you."

"That'd be nice. I'm not exactly top dog around here like I was back in Signal, so I'll take any opportunity to get better."

"From a big fish in a small pond to the opposite," Qrow mused. "Had the same experience when I left the tribe and came here. What's the talent looking like this year?"

"Pyrrha Nikos, for one."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot she was here. How is she?"

"Second-best in our year."

"Second best? Who's-"

Qrow paused upon noticing that both of his nieces suddenly looked uncomfortable. He glanced over to Red, who flinched under his gaze. He looked over to Tai, and both men sighed.

"I see," Qrow said. Slowly, he looked over to Red. "Kiddo, I think the two of us need to have a talk. Alone. Tai, Yang, do you mind?"

"You want to do it now?" Yang asked.

"No better time, right?"

"...No, guess not. Nah, I don't mind. Dad?"

"Not at all," Tai said. "We'll be right outside, Red. Call us if you need anything."

The wolf nodded mutely, slowly pushing her food away as her father and sister stood up and exited the room, closing the door behind them and leaving just her and her uncle.

"Talk to me, kid," Qrow said, as gently as he could. "What's bothering you?"

Red said nothing. Qrow's mouth tightened, and he stood up, moving to sit beside her.

"Hey," he spoke, "you can tell me anything, you know? Me, your dad, and your sister. We all care about you more than you'll ever know."

Still, Red was silent. Qrow sighed.

"Mind if I start talking, then?" She shook her head. "Okay. Let me start by saying that I know what you're going through."

"...Already said that," Red pointed out.

"I know, but it's worth repeating because it's true. Before my sister and I came to Beacon, we were members of a bandit tribe in Mistral. Both of us were taught how to kill from a young age, and we both started killing around the same age as you. And just like you, we were taught that what we were doing was okay, though for different reasons – the tribe raised us to think that the only people who deserved to live were the strong. If you died, you were weak, and you didn't deserve to survive. The law of the jungle."

He frowned. "It took coming to Beacon and getting put on a team with your mom and dad to teach me how wrong that was. That's one thing you did better than me, by the way – you realized how wrong you were on your own. It took Summer and Tai intervening to break me out of it."

Red blinked, surprised. "...Then why come to Beacon?"

"Because the tribe told me to," Qrow answered. "You see, we had gotten to be such a nuisance that the people who run Mistral decided to start sending Huntsmen after us. They did enough of a number on our tribe that the leader decided to do something about it. Me and Raven – that's my sister – happened to be just the right age for what he had planned. So, he sent us to Beacon. His plan was to have us both train as Huntsmen, that way we would know how to better defend against them."

"You mean-"

"That's right. You came here to get away from it all? Well, I came here because I was told to, because I was supposed to learn how to kill everybody here and pass it on to a band of murderers and thieves." Qrow breathed a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, I met your mother and father, and they snapped me out of that line of thinking. Took a while, but they did it."

"And Raven…?"

At that, he grimaced. "They tried as hard as they could, but it wasn't enough. She ran off shortly after giving birth to Yang – went back to the tribe and took over from the previous leader." He let out a huff. "Good riddance, I say – if she's willing to turn her back on her own daughter like that, she isn't worth keeping around. 'Sides, if she had stayed, your mom and dad wouldn't have gotten together, and you wouldn't be here."

If he had been expecting a reaction to that statement, Red didn't show it. "Why tell me this?"

"To prove a point," Qrow answered. "All this stuff you're going through now? I've been there before. I know how you feel, kiddo. I can help if you let me."

Red looked away. "...I don't deserve-"

"We'll start with that," Qrow interrupted. "I hate to have to resort to tough love, but I'll tell you the same thing Summer told me when I gave her that answer all those years ago: yes, you do deserve help, and saying you don't just hurts the people who care about you."

Red fidgeted uncomfortably, and Qrow sighed. "Red, look at me." Reluctantly, she turned towards him. "I want you to listen carefully," he began. "Whatever you've done, none of it matters to any of us. All we want is for you to feel safe, and happy, and loved."

Hurriedly, Red shook her head. "A-all those people would still be-"

"You don't know that. If Sienna wanted them dead as bad as you think she did, then eventually she would have sent Almost after them. It was just a matter of time. If you hadn't killed them, he would have, and he probably wouldn't have been as clean as you were."

"...B-but, I didn't feel bad about-"

"And you think I did when I was robbing and killing people? Red, when I was doing that stuff, I felt _great. _Why wouldn't I? I was getting nice things, and everyone in the tribe was singing my praises for it. So what if I had to kill a few people? They were weak, and I was strong. I deserved to live, and they didn't. Those were the rules – the strong lived, and the weak died."

"...That's different," Red protested. "You were doing what you were told was right-"

"You weren't?" Qrow gently asked. "Red, I got to see you when you were just a kid. I know people can change, but there's no way you would have killed those people if you hadn't been taught that it was the right thing to do. So, I'll ask you this: based on what you've heard, who do you think is the most guilty for the people I killed, me or the people who taught me that what I was doing was right?"

Red hesitated. "...T-the people..."

"And is your situation any different?"

At that, she fell silent, as unwilling to answer as she was unable. Qrow sighed, placing one arm around her.

"Kiddo, I know you feel awful, but trust me when I say that it's not your fault."

"Y-you can't-"

"Stop," Qrow said. "It's not your fault."

"But I-"

"It's not your fault. I want to hear you say it."

"...I-it's not my fault..." She whispered.

"Louder. It's not your fault."

"...It's not my fault..."

"Even louder. It's not your fault."

"It's not my-"

She was cut off by a lump in her throat. Swallowing, she turned to look at her uncle, who beckoned for her to continue.

"It's not my fault."

"There you go." He brought up a hand to brush away her tears. "You got that a lot faster than I did, you know? Summer had to spend an hour with me, forcing me to repeat it until I said it with confidence."

"...That can't be it."

"It's not. She forced me and Raven to repeat it over and over when we got up every day, until we started to really believe it."

"...You want me to do the same thing?"

"I do. Every day, when you wake up, I want the first thing you say to be 'It's not my fault'. Can you do that for me?"

Slowly, Red nodded. Qrow grinned, bringing one hand up to ruffle her hair. "Good. That's Summer's advice for you – she always knew best." He chuckled. "Heh. Even as a teenager, she was such a mom."

"...Wish I knew her better," Red muttered.

"Hey, I'd wager that you, Tai, and Yang knew her better than everyone else on Remnant. You got to see the real Summer every day."

"...C-can you tell me about her?"

"Of course, kiddo," Qrow answered with a small smile. "Summer was… she was one-of-a-kind, really. A real hothead, but also the kindest, gentlest soul you would ever meet, with a huge soft spot for children. The happiest day of her life was when she found out she was pregnant with you. I'd known her for years before then, but I'd never seen her so happy – like, I'm talking tears of joy just pouring down her face, crying so hard she couldn't even speak properly. Your dad thought she was hurt or something, he almost rushed her to the hospital before she managed to finally get out that she wasn't injured, she was crying because she was just so happy that she was pregnant with you."

Qrow sighed. "She was my best friend. We spent hours together, hanging out. She was the one who helped me through my depression when Beacon finally broke me out of the tribe's propaganda. I can't think of a more beautiful soul to have ever walked across Remnant."

Red hesitated. "Did you… you know… like her?"

The Huntsman blinked, confused, before his eyes widened in understanding. "I mean… maybe at one point? I don't know. She was definitely cute, but Summer only ever had eyes for Tai, even back then. She was more like the other sister I never had more than anything." He shrugged. "I certainly wasn't bothered when she hooked up with Tai, in any case."

He went to reach for his flask, only to stop himself. He sighed. "She'd be so pissed to see what I've been doing since she died..."

"...Two of us..." Red added.

"No, one of us – the last person to blame you for anything would be her," Qrow admonished. "Just for that, I want you to say it again."

"...Not my fault."

"Louder."

"It's not my fault."

"Good."

Qrow cast a glance back at his flask, causing Red to frown. "Qrow."

"Yeah, kid?"

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Drink."

He blinked. "Kind of a tall order-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You have to stop."

"That's easier said than done, you know."

"So is what you asked of me."

Qrow blinked, then deflated. "...Alright, you have a point," he conceded. "So, what, we make it a trade? I stop being such a wreck, and you stop blaming yourself?" At her nod, he sat up straighter. "You know what? That's a fair trade."

"Good."

Red suddenly lunged for his flask, stealing it from him. Qrow looked like he wanted to fight for it, but quickly stopped himself. Rising to her feet, Red walked over to the bathroom, uncapping the flask as she did so before upending it over the sink, quickly draining its contents. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Qrow wince, but it went ignored.

Shaking the flask to make sure it was completely empty, she rinsed it out with some water before returning to Qrow, handing it to him before taking a seat next to him. The Huntsman looked at his empty flask with a blank expression before shrugging and tossing it over to an empty corner of the room.

"Why do I feel like if Summer was here, she would have done that exact same thing?" he asked aloud. Shaking his head, he turned back to Red. "Anyway, we've still got a bit more to talk about."

"Like what?"

"Your name."

"...Don't want to be Ruby Rose anymore."

"I know, but you have to realize that changing your name won't help anything, especially if you're so convinced that it's your fault anyway." His face tightened. "If nothing else, you should go back to it just to spite your asshole of a mentor."

"...He knew my mom?"

"Unfortunately, yes. There's quite a bit of history between him and Team STRQ, actually. I'd tell you about it, but the less said about him right now, the better. Your dad and I will tell you later, when you're ready to hear it along with the rest of your team."

"...Okay."

"Yeah. So, your name?"

Hesitantly, Red shook her head. Qrow frowned. "Any particular reason why?"

"I just… I don't like being reminded of what I've done."

"Changing your name won't help with that, not when you're constantly reminding yourself of it anyway."

She flinched at that. Qrow's expression softened, and he gently placed one arm around her shoulders.

"Hey," he began, "Like I said, it's not your fault. You have to accept that – there's nothing you could have done to prevent all of this. Changing your name doesn't help with that. If anything, it does the opposite – you're admitting to yourself that you still think it is your fault, which is why you can't go by your old name anymore."

She said nothing in response. Her uncle sighed.

"It's time to end it," he said softly. "Please, go back to calling yourself Ruby. You have no idea how much it hurts all of us for you to still want to go by Red."

He was playing dirty, she knew – holding her family over her like that. It was coming from a place of love, but that didn't make it any more fair. If anything, it did the opposite. Still, she had to admit that he was speaking the truth – if she was truly going to have to stop blaming herself for all of this, then that meant accepting her old name, with all the baggage it came with.

It would take some getting used to, but for the sake of her family, she would do it.

Looking back to her uncle, Red nodded. "Okay," she said softly.

Qrow blinked, surprised, but it lasted for only a second before a relieved smile crossed his face. He pulled her close. "Thanks, Ruby."

It felt odd, hearing her real name spoken by someone who wasn't commanding her to do something. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but she wasn't about to tell him that, not when he had worked so hard to convince her to go back to it. She had to admit that he was right – refusing to use her old name had really been hurting her loved ones, now that she thought it.

The two of them stayed like that for a little while before breaking apart. Once they did, Qrow checked his watch. "I think it's about time we let the two of them in, yeah? Yang probably wants to finish her breakfast." He cast a glance over to the half-eaten plate of eggs at Ruby's side. "And you should probably finish yours."  
Ruby nodded, pulling the plate back over to her. Qrow, meanwhile, strode over to the door, throwing it open and letting Tai and Yang back in.

"How'd it go?" Tai asked.

Qrow opened his mouth, but Ruby beat him to it.

"...Feeling a bit better," she admitted. "And… I don't want to be Red anymore. I think I want to be Ruby once again."  
Both her father and her sister seemed surprised to hear her say that, but it lasted for only a second before they were at her side, big grins on their faces.

"I'm glad," Taiyang said, his voice cracking with emotion. "It's… it's good to have you back, Ruby."

"That's my sister," Yang muttered softly. "Qrow helped, then?"

Ruby nodded. At that, Tai relaxed. "Good. That's good. Maybe the two of you should spend some more time together? Yang and I are going to do some sparring later, and as much as I'd like to have Red involved, there's not much she can do when she's still injured."

Ruby shrugged. "...Could watch."

"Watching is fine," Qrow said.

"Fun for the whole family, it seems," Yang interjected. "I'm gonna kick your ass, Pops. I still owe you for that noogie."

"Remind me again how many times we've sparred and how many times I've won them?" Tai asked, one eyebrow raised.

"...Too many to count?" Yang ventured.

"Exactly."

"This time will be different, though. Right, Ruby?"

Ruby swallowed her mouthful of eggs, then shook her head. Yang gaped, surprised. "What?! Don't take Dad's side!"

"Can't even beat me," Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's Dad! You disappear into rose petals and stuff, he just hits really hard! C'mon, back me up!"

Again, Ruby shook her head, causing her father and uncle to laugh and her sister to pout. A small grin crept across the wolf's face, and this time, she didn't bother to hide it.

Somehow, despite all the drama that had just occurred, smiling now just felt right.

* * *

"Do you remember what I taught you last time?"

"Keep both eyes open, don't flinch, don't anticipate the recoil, and… uh..."

"Pull the trigger with the crease of your finger rather than the pad. That gun has a heavy double-action trigger pull, so using the crease of your finger makes shooting it easier."

"Right."

"Whenever you're ready, then."

Weiss nodded. Blake stepped back from the firing line, carefully watching her teammate as she leveled her weapon downrange.

Unlike the other guns they had used, this wasn't a rental. Weiss had apparently decided to go and buy a gun of her own, likely because she still hadn't gotten Myrtenaster back from the police yet. At least, that was what she had told Blake. The cat Faunus knew better than to take that at face value, however. The fact that Weiss had also made sure to buy a holster for it told her more than the heiress thought it did.

The gun itself was… unique, for lack of a better term. Expensive, too; typical Schnee tastes, Blake figured. It was a strange-looking six-shot revolver chambered in .44 magnum, though unlike Ruby's magnum, Weiss loaded her pistol with different kinds of elemental Dust bullets, which she kept stored on her belt. The gun itself had the bore situated in the six-o'-clock position; this alone was strange, but whoever had made it had apparently decided that they could make it even stranger and had decided to make it an automatic as well – whenever the gun fired, the entire upper assembly reciprocated backwards, which both rotated the cylinder and cocked the hammer back.

It begged the question of why the manufacturer had even bothered to make it a revolver in the first place, but Blake figured it wasn't her place to judge, especially not when Weiss was already shooting it so well.

Apparently, more carried over from her usage of Myrtenaster than either would have thought. After some basic instruction, the heiress had proven herself to be an adept shot, though this paled in comparison to just how fast she could load the weapon. Even without speed loaders, she was incredibly fast; with speed loaders, she was only a bit slower than Blake was when changing mags with Gambol Shroud.

A shot rang out, snapping Blake out of her shot. It was followed a fraction of a second later by the ringing of steel.

"Hit," Blake called.

_Bang!_

"Hit."

_Bang!_

"Hit. You know, you're a natural at this, considering just a little while ago you didn't even know how to use the sights."

Weiss fired another shot, again being rewarded with the ringing of steel. "Well, I had a good teacher."

_Bang!_

"Hit. That, and you've put, what, almost two thousand rounds downrange in just a few days?"

_Bang!_

The heiress pulled the trigger one more time, waiting until she heard it click empty before turning back to Blake. She shrugged. "I mean, it's not like we had much else to do." She opened the cylinder and roughly struck the extractor with her palm, dumping the six empty casings on the ground before taking some fresh rounds from the box in front of her and beginning to load them in two at a time.

"Of course, that's not to say that I haven't enjoyed our time together," Weiss added, closing the cylinder shut before taking aim once more. "You've proven to be very good company."

_Bang!_

Blake rolled her eyes. "Hit. And you can just say you like me, you know – no need to dress it up all fancy."

Weiss smirked. "Okay, how about this – I'm sorry for everything bad I ever said about you."

_Bang!_

"Hit, and likewise." Blake paused. "...So, does this make us friends now?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't." _Bang! _"Unless you don't want to?"

A few days ago and Blake wouldn't have ever considered the option. Teammates, sure. Acquaintances, yes. But friends? That simply seemed unfeasible. Hell, she herself had written off the very concept as ridiculous during their first trip to the range together.

Now, though…

Now, Blake wasn't so sure. Weiss had proven herself to be the opposite of every Schnee family stereotype that Blake had ever seen. The heiress was open-minded, having accepted that she was wrong about Faunus. She had even made friends with two of them, even if one of those friendships was now in jeopardy. Even then, Weiss had gone so far as to admit that she didn't hate Red, she was just afraid of her. And given the situation, Blake found that very understandable, much as she wanted to change it.

That settled it, then. There was officially no reason for Blake to say no.

The ravenette sighed softly. "...No, I think I do want to."

"Okay, then." _Bang! Bang! _

Setting the now-empty weapon on the table, Weiss turned around and offered Blake her hand.

"Friends."

Blake stared at the offered hand. Blinking in disbelief, she shook herself out of it before accepting. "Friends."

The two broke apart, and Weiss breathed deeply. "Well, that's a weight off my chest."

"Yeah." Blake couldn't help but smirk. "A Schnee and a Belladonna… never thought I'd see the day."

The two settled into silence for a moment before Weiss sighed. "...Okay, there's still something I have to ask."

Blake blinked, surprised. Well, if this was what she thought it was, she was more than willing to hear Weiss out on it. Nodding, she motioned for Weiss to continue.

"Those things about the SDC… Are they true?"

Well, that… wasn't what Blake had expected. Even worse, it was potentially just as much of a land mine as what she _had _expected. Still, she supposed that it was something that had to be discussed sooner or later, so they might as well we get it over with.

"Yes," Blake said, nodding. "It's all true. I've seen the mines and the company towns myself."

Weiss winced, looking down at the floor. She didn't even try to argue, though somehow, this didn't surprise Blake – with how open-minded Weiss had become, it just made sense. Instantly, Blake put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Weiss," she assured. "I know that you would never do that. You're not your father."

"No, it's… I should have realized the truth, you know? It was right in front of my face all this time, and I refused to see it… maybe if I had done something-"

"What could you have done? Your father controls the SDC with an iron fist. There's no way you could have gone against him at all."

Weiss didn't reply. Blake sighed. "Weiss, I know you feel guilty, but it's not your fault in the slightest."

"I'll fix it," Weiss suddenly promised. "I'm the heiress. That means I'll take over some day. When I do take over, I swear I'll do whatever it takes to make things right. And if I'm not heiress, for whatever reason..." She shook her head. "...Then I'll take the SDC down with me. I refuse to let my father take advantage of people like that anymore. If destroying the company is what it takes to help them, then I'll do it."

Blake stared at her, surprised. She honestly wasn't sure how to respond – coming from Weiss, that was a big statement; she was basically promising to throw away her own livelihood to save others. That was a bold thing to say for someone like her. Slowly, Blake felt a smile creep across her face.

"You do what you think you need to, Weiss. I know that whatever it is, you'll be doing the right thing."

Weiss seemed to accept that… but it wasn't over. That was one big thing tackled; there was still one more.

"...Are you ready to talk to her yet, Weiss?"

Weiss seemed to understand immediately, and winced. "...I'm not sure if I'm-"

"Weiss," Blake said softly. "You need to talk to her. Waiting isn't going to help anything, either for you or her."

Weiss was silent. Blake gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"You've told me how you feel about her," Blake spoke. "If that's all still true, then all that's left is to tell her to her face. I know she'll want to hear it, and it's something you need to say."

Weiss hesitated, then sighed. "...You're right," she admitted. "It'll be hard, but..." Another sigh escaped her. "...Could you message her for me? She'll listen to you. Tell her that I want to meet, just the two of us."

"Sure," Blake said, fishing out her scroll.

Typing out a message, her hand hovered over the send button. Pausing, she turned back to Weiss. "I don't think I need to tell you to be careful with how you approach this."

"I'll be gentle," Weiss promised. "For as bad as I feel, she must feel even worse. Trust me when I say that the last thing I want to do is exacerbate things even further." She shook her head. "No… no, this ends today. Send it."

Blake nodded, then pressed the button. Her scroll sent the message off with a chime, leaving the two of them there in silence.

"And now we wait," Blake said.

They didn't have to wait long. A minute later, Blake's scroll chimed again.

"What's it say?" Weiss asked anxiously as her friend read over the message.

"...Beacon's gardens," Blake said. Weiss blinked. "...Something tells me she's already afraid of how this is going to go," Blake added.

Weiss sighed again. "Right…"

She turned back towards the table, emptying the used casings out of her gun before placing it in its holster. Leaving the empty boxes of bullets there, she turned back to Blake.

"Take me to her, please. We're ending this now."

* * *

Ruby fidgeted nervously from her spot on the bench. Pulling out her scroll, she checked the time, frowning when she noticed that she had only been sitting there for a few minutes. It felt like she had been here for hours.

The anticipation was killing her. She had expected Weiss would want to talk to her, but she didn't think it would be this soon. She probably could have waited – her father and uncle had, in fact, tried to get her to do exactly that – but Yang had convinced her that waiting wouldn't be good for anyone. It was better to just get it over with.

Ruby could see the logic, even if it was terrifying to consider. She had no idea how Weiss would react. Blake's message had seemed civil enough, but the wolf just didn't know.

Out of the corner of her eye, the ex-assassin saw movement. Her heart just about stopped when she recognized them – Blake, pushing Weiss along in her wheelchair. Briefly, she considered running, only to push that thought from her head – again, running would solve nothing, and with her leg still wrapped in bandages, it wasn't like she would be going anywhere fast.

Instead, she resigned herself to whatever was about to happen.

Blake reached her soon enough, stopping a few feet away. Gingerly, she raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, Red. How's it going?"

Ruby didn't respond. Her gaze drifted to Weiss' hip, where she could see a gun holstered – a revolver of some kind. Weiss had it holstered on her left hip, the grip pointing out and the barrel pointing away from her – Ruby could just make out that the chambers appeared to be empty. The realization was relaxing, if only just. Slowly sighing, she turned to Blake.

"...Hi," she said, timid. "...Not that I'm not happy to see you, but-"

Blake nodded. "Don't worry, I understand. I'll leave you both to it."

With that, the cat Faunus walked off, leaving just the two of them there. Their gazes locked for a moment, and both looked away, unable to make eye contact with the other. After several seconds, Weiss cleared her throat.

"...Could you help me onto the bench? I'd do it myself, but..."

She only needed to ask once. Swallowing her fear, Ruby approached her teammate, gently pulling her to her feet. Weiss winced and bit her lip at the sudden pressure on her legs, but to Ruby's relief, she didn't cry out. Gingerly, Ruby helped her over to the bench, softly lowering her down onto it before taking a seat next to her.

"...Thank you," Weiss said.

Ruby nodded in response, but said nothing. She didn't know what to say.

Weiss, thankfully, realized this and saw fit to take the reins. Clearing her throat, the heiress spoke.

"...I never got to thank you," she began. "For helping me escape the White Fang, that is. You saved my life, you know."

Ruby blinked. "...Had to. Not worth thanking."

"That's not true," Weiss admonished. "You put your life on the line for me. You _died, _Red. Your heart stopped." The heiress shook her head. "You saved me, Red, even at the cost of your own life. That's a debt I can never repay, but at the very least, I can say thank you."

"...No need to repay," the wolf grunted. "I owe you after what I did. And, you're… more valuable than me. Compared to you, I'm expendable."  
Weiss frowned. "Don't say that."

"It's true. I'm not a good person. Never have been."

"Red..."

"You, Blake, Yang, Coco, Jaune… all of you, better than me. Would make the same decision for all of you."

"Stop," Weiss commanded, making Ruby pause. Weiss glared at her. "Don't you realize what you're doing when you say things like that?"

Ruby hesitated. "...What I'm doing?"

"Do you have any idea how much you're hurting your family, your _sister, _when you say that you're a bad person, or that you don't deserve to live?!"

"...I don't-"

"Stop it," Weiss implored. "Listen to me, Red – you're surrounded by people who care about you, who love you and don't want to see you hurt. When you talk like that, you're hurting them as much as you are yourself."

Again, Ruby blinked. Slowly, she lowered her head as her teammate's words sank in. "...Sorry."

Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "...It's okay." Opening her eyes, she stared at her teammate. "I won't claim to know what's going through your head, but I can take a guess. You don't want to be here, do you?"

Ruby exhaled, then shook her head. Once more, Weiss frowned. "And why is that?"

"...You know why."

Weiss stared at her for a few seconds. Finally, she exhaled softly. "...Okay. Red, there's no need to be worried."

"How can I not be? You have every right to hate me."

"But I don't," Weiss insisted.

Ruby stopped, surprised. Weiss gave her a sympathetic look.

"Red, I know this may be hard for you to accept, but I don't hate you. Not even a little. If anything, you're an even bigger victim than I am in this."

Frantically, Ruby shook her head. "No, I'm-"

"You are," Weiss proclaimed.

Once more, Ruby fell silent. Weiss took the opportunity to move a bit closer. The wolf flinched at the sudden movement, but made no efforts to shy away, much to Weiss' relief.

"Look, do you mind if I just talk for a bit?" the heiress asked. At Ruby's nod, she took a breath, then exhaled.

"...I won't lie, you really hurt me back then," Weiss began. "I had nightmares almost every night for two years because of what you did."

Ruby recoiled like she'd been struck. Weiss looked apologetic, but continued.

"...But after hearing what you had to say, and after thinking about it for a bit, I can't hate you. I could never hate you. You were forced into it – you didn't have a choice. And even then, you still refused to do it. You knew you would be punished for it, yet you still refused."

"...Didn't know how bad it would be," Ruby admitted.

"That doesn't matter. You were turning your back on the people who had essentially raised you, all because you knew what they wanted you to do was wrong."

Ruby grimaced. "...Should have done it sooner. Should have done a lot of things sooner. My fault."

Weiss shook her head. "It's not," she said gently. "I think you know that, too. Rationally, it makes no sense for you to take the blame for it. The only person who blames you is yourself."

"...Uncle made me say it wasn't my fault," Red admitted.

"He's right. Red, it really isn't your fault. I know you feel responsible – that you feel awful, that you think there are things you could have done differently, but there aren't. They made sure of that."

Ruby flinched, then looked away. "...One thing," she said softly. "Could have done one thing differently..."

Weiss frowned. "You mean-"

"Yes."

Ruby tugged at one of her sleeves, pulling it down to cover her wrist a bit more. Weiss stared at her wrist, her frown intensifying. Slowly, she reached for the wolf's sleeve, fighting past the wolf's feeble resistance in order to roll it up. After a moment, she had succeeded in pulling Red's sleeve up past her elbow. Rotating her arm around slightly, Weiss found herself staring at Red's scars once more. Red grimaced, clearly expecting Weiss to admonish her for not trying harder.

The last thing she expected was for Weiss to suddenly pull her into a big hug.

The wolf froze, unsure of how to react. She felt something wet land on her shoulder, and was immediately aware that Weiss was crying.

"Red, please," Weiss said, her voice shaky. "I'm begging you, not as somebody who you hurt but as your _friend – please_don't ever try to hurt yourself again."

Ruby hesitated. She barely managed to speak over the lump in her throat. "W-Weiss..."

"I don't care how bad you feel," the heiress added. "I don't care how guilty you are, or how much you think you deserve it. I don't ever want you to try hurting yourself again."

"...M-my punishment, for everything I-"

"You _are _being punished, don't you get it?!" Weiss all but shouted. "You're doing it to yourself right now! If this is about suffering for what you've done, then you already are! It's more than enough, Red!"

She tightened the hug. Ruby swallowed. "...Weiss..."

"You want to make things up to me?" Weiss demanded. "Then I want you to make a promise. Promise me that no matter how bad things get, you'll never try again."

"I can't-"

"You can, and you will," Weiss implored. "I want to be your friend again, Red. More than anything. But that's my price – if you want my forgiveness, then I'm going to make you swear to me, right now, that you're never going to hurt yourself ever again."

Weiss broke the hug enough to stare Ruby right in the eyes. "Please, stop this," she begged.

Red held the gaze for just a moment before looking away. "...Why do you care…?"

"Because you're my friend," Weiss insisted. "I don't care about what you did to me, okay? Now that I know the whole story, none of that is important. All I care about right now is you, and how much pain you're in. You helped me escape from the White Fang, and now I want to help you, and I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen."

The wolf brought one hand up to wipe away some of her unshed tears. "...You shouldn't," she said softly.

"Well, I am. Now, are you going to accept my offer and start being my friend again, or do I need to hug you even tighter?"

Ruby hesitated. "...I won't give up," she said. "I will find Sienna and Almost. Adam, too. And when I do, I'll make them pay."

Weiss frowned. "You have to know that you can't pursue vengeance and also not have your friends and family worry about you," she pointed out.

Ruby said nothing, instead looking away. Weiss gently rested a hand on her arm.

"We all love you," she said softly. "We know that you're hurting, but vengeance isn't the answer. I think you know it, but you just don't want to admit it. Please, don't fall into that trap – you'll never be able to move past this if you dwell on your mentors. For your own sake, let it go."

On a certain level, Ruby did know it. She hadn't considered how much pursuing revenge would hurt the ones she loved, lost in her own hatred for her mentors as she was, but now… now, with Weiss having plainly laid it out for her to see, she had to admit that Weiss was right. If she went after Sienna and Almost, they would all worry about her. And if she never came back…

No. No, she couldn't do that to them. They had already spent ten years without her; she refused to let them go through that pain anymore. And if the cost of making sure they didn't have to was giving up her quest for vengeance, then so be it. It was a small price to pay if it meant keeping them happy.

Again, Ruby paused for a moment before speaking. "...Okay," she admitted. She looked down at her wrist, softly tracing her scars with a finger. "...No more," she said softly.

Weiss immediately brightened. "No more?" she asked, hopeful.

Ruby shook her head. "...I didn't realize how much I was hurting all of you. I'm sorry, and… and I promise I won't try again. And… and I won't go after Sienna and Almost. I want to, but I… I don't want to hurt the people I love anymore… And I can see now that I can't both have vengeance and also avoid hurting all of you. Something has to give, and I choose for it to be my vengeance."

Weiss blinked in surprise. Then, slowly, a grin crept across her face. She lunged forward, pulling Ruby into another hug.

This time, the wolf reciprocated.

"I'm happy to hear that," Weiss said, her voice once again wavering, though now for a much different reason.

Nothing more was said between the two. Instead, they simply sat there, enjoying each other's presence and touch.

Just two friends, reunited after being apart for too long.

It took a moment before another thought crossed Ruby's head.

"Hey, Weiss?"

Without breaking the hug, Weiss replied, "Yes?"

Ruby hesitated, unsure of how exactly to proceed. "You're… been calling me Red this whole time."

"Yes, I have. I thought that was what you wanted?"

"It was, but… but not anymore. I'm Ruby Rose now."

Weiss broke the hug enough to stare at her in surprise. Ruby was unsure how to react, and unsure about what Weiss would do.

But somehow, when Weiss pulled her back into the hug, this time holding her even tighter than before, she wasn't surprised.

* * *

It was a bit later that the others came back for them. Tai, Qrow, Yang, and Blake all stepped into the garden, stopping right in front of them. Yang smiled widely.

"Weiss," she greeted.

"Good to see you, Yang," Weiss replied.

"Sorry if I was away-"

"I understand, as hard as it was for me. Besides, something good came of it."  
"You can be more direct, you know," Blake chimed in.

Weiss giggled. "Okay, then. Blake and I are friends now."

"Geez, it's about time," Yang replied. "You two certainly beat around the bush long enough with your 'just teammates' thing. Still, I'm happy for you." Her attention shifted over to Red. "And you and Red…?"

"Have worked things out," Weiss said, hooking one arm around Red. The wolf blinked in surprise, but didn't try to pull away. "And, more importantly, she's not Red anymore. Now, you can call her Ruby Rose."

Blake seemed surprised to hear that, and looked over to Ruby for confirmation.

"...Team RWBY is back together," Ruby said softly.

A big smile crossed Blake's face, and she nodded in understanding.

Yang pumped her fist in victory. "Yes! ...So, uh, now what?"

Tai stepped forwards. "Now, I think we ought to get these two to the hospital," he said, gesturing to Weiss and Red. "The doctor sent us a message saying most of Ruby's bandages can come off now, and we might as well have them take a look at your friend while we're at it."

Weiss blinked. "...I'm sorry, who are you?"

Tai grinned. "Taiyang Xiao Long. I'm Ruby and Yang's dad." He gestured to Qrow. "Qrow Branwen. Drunk."

Qrow pushed his friend's arm away. "_Ex _drunk starting today, Tai," he corrected. "Your daughter saw to that."

"Father…?" Weiss questioned, eyeing both Tai and Yang before looking over at Ruby. "Sorry; I know about your family history, but they look very different from you. It's quite surprising, is all."

Tai rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, Ruby takes after her mother a lot more than she takes after me."

"So does Yang, thankfully," Qrow grunted. "Last thing we need is to see more of your ugly-ass face, Tai."

"Oh, you're one to talk." The blonde Huntsman checked his watch. "So, let's get going. I'm sure you both want to get out of those bandages."

"Like you wouldn't believe," Weiss replied. She turned to Yang. "Help me into my wheelchair?"

Yang nodded, picking Weiss up and gently depositing her into the chair. Blake, meanwhile, grabbed Ruby's crutches and passed them over to her, the wolf Faunus nodding gratefully.

"Right," Tai said once they were all ready, "let's go."

* * *

Ruby breathed a small sigh of relief when she felt the doctor cut away the bandages covering her leg. She took the opportunity to look at the leg itself, looking it over to make sure all was well as the doctor moved on to removing her now-unneeded stitches. They came out after a few seconds, leaving nothing but a scar behind. Against her better judgment, she found herself staring at it.

Ultimately, it should have just been another scar, but it felt like much more than that. This was the first one in a long time that she could honestly say was due to her doing something good. It shouldn't have felt nice to realize that, but it didn't stop a small grin from creeping across her face.

"Hold still," the doctor said, reaching for her eye patch. "Now, there may be some light sensitivity..."

The patch came off, and Ruby was forced to squint at the sudden brightness shining in her eye. After a few seconds to adjust, she slowly opened it, staring out at everyone else. Her father, to her surprise, stared back, stunned. After a moment, he caught himself.

"Sorry. It's just, your eyes… they look just like..."

He didn't say anything else, but he didn't need to. Ruby understood perfectly, both what he was trying to say and why he seemed so apologetic about it.

Luckily, a grunt from beside her kept her from having to comment on it. Turning, she found another doctor cutting away one of Weiss' casts. After a few seconds, the cast came off, freeing her leg. Tentatively, Weiss put some of her weight on it, hissing slightly as she did so.

"It's a bit sore..." she said.

"It will be for a little while," the doctor reassured. "That will go away in a few days. Take your painkillers until they're empty and you should be fine."

"If you say so..."

"Aw, relax, Weiss," Yang cut in. "You'll be back to doing deadlifts in no time."

"Great..." Weiss deadpanned. "If we're going back to that, then I'm making Ruby join us."

"Okay," the wolf said without hesitation.

That left only one. All three of them turned towards Blake, who balked at the sudden attention. She sighed. "...Fine. But I'll complain the entire time I'm lifting."

"I'll take it," Yang proudly declared.

Weiss' second cast came off, freeing her other leg. She tested that one just like the first, again wincing when she put pressure on it. Yang tossed her the bottle of painkillers, and Weiss nodded in thanks before taking two and setting it down.

Tai turned to one of the doctors. "So, we good here?"

"I would say so," the man replied. "Keep an eye on both of them, and if there are any complications, let us know immediately."

"Sure. Thank you both."

Both men nodded before turning and leaving. Now alone, Tai turned back towards the four girls.

"Have a seat," he said.

Yang and Ruby exchanged a confused glance. "Uh, Dad?" Yang asked. "What's going on?"

"The gang's all here," Tai replied. "Qrow and I agreed that we would wait until you were all together to tell you about this."

"It's time we had a talk," Qrow added. He focused on Ruby.

"We've got some things you all need to know about Ruby's mentor."

Ruby scowled. "There's not much to know," she spat. "He's a sadist. He likes hurting people. He hates humanity. What more could there possibly be?"

"A lot more," Tai replied, his voice full of regret. "What do you know about his past, Ruby?"

The wolf shrugged. "Nothing. He never told me anything about that."

Qrow let out a snort. "Yeah, because he probably hates thinking about it… or rather, us."

Ruby and Yang exchanged a glance. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Yang asked.

"Yes," Tai replied. "We all knew him from years ago. He went to school with us."

"At one point, we were all friends," Qrow added.

Ruby stared, surprised. Looking around, she could see that the others were in much the same state – nobody could quite believe what they were hearing.

"Okay," Yang said after a moment's pause. "Tell us everything."

"Guess I'll start," Tai offered. "Anyway, the first thing you need to know is that back then, Faunus had it a lot worse than they do now. People were a lot more open about their racism, and a lot of it was institutional. About the only place that a Faunus could go outside of Menagerie without being bombarded with hatred was Vacuo. Even in Vale, people had a very low tolerance level for them."

"But what about-"

"Summer?" Tai scowled. "Yeah, that was the problem… well, one of them, anyway. The other problem was that our team was completely dysfunctional. We all hated each other."

"Bad combination, obviously," Qrow grunted. "Summer was the leader, and she was stuck trying to wrangle three shitheads who didn't want to be wrangled, and that was on top of the bullshit she had to face every day because of her ears. Poor girl damn near quit Beacon over it. I can't say I blame her – she basically went through an entire month of school with zero friends, a team that didn't like her and wouldn't listen to her, and a constant stream of racist garbage being forced into her head day after day."

"Sounds familiar," Weiss said, looking over at Ruby.

Ruby shook her head. "...Not as bad."

"Thankfully. Good thing Blake was there to help."

"Anyway," Qrow continued, "Summer was having a pretty rough time. She was just about at the end of her rope when she met someone who she could relate to."

Again, Ruby and Yang exchanged a glance. "Don't tell me it was him," Yang said.

"It was," Tai answered. "'Course, back then, he hadn't shown his true colors yet – he was just a second-year with a bit of a temper who liked fighting a little too much."

"Mom and Almost…?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Yeah, if it sounds weird, that's 'cuz it is," Qrow said. "The two were polar opposites in every way, but that didn't stop them from becoming friends. You see, Almost was in roughly the same position as she was – leader of a team that didn't like him, constantly being harassed by people because of his race… it kind of makes sense why they would bond when you think about it in those terms. If nothing else, they understood each other with regards to that."

"So, what happened?" Yang asked, curious.

"That's a bit of a long story," Tai admitted. "I'll give you the short version – he helped keep Summer sane, as weird as that sounds. Kept her from quitting Beacon. Eventually, she managed to get the three of us under control to the point where we didn't want to strangle each other, though it took a lot of work. With time, we even became friends with each other… and with Almost."

"Most students at school didn't want to be seen with someone who was friends with a Faunus," Qrow explained. "We felt bad for him, since outside of Summer, he was alone. Plus, we felt like we owed him, since he helped keep Summer from quitting. So, we started hanging around him. Hoped that maybe we could help him out the same way he helped Summer out."

"Everything went fine until our second year," Tai continued. "One of his teammates was killed during a mission. It wasn't Almost's fault, but as the leader, everyone blamed him for it. Suddenly, all of the bullshit got taken up a notch – it was like the entire school was against him. We tried everything we could to keep him sane, but the stress of losing his teammate coupled with the student body turning against him was too much. Something had to give."

"And it did," Qrow said, his voice somber. "One day, he got cornered by a team of four guys. They were looking for a fight – started off calling him all sorts of names, accusing him of letting his teammate die, the works. Even threw in a few insults towards Summer for good measure. We would have stopped it, but we were all in class. There was nothing we could do."

"Almost snapped. He went absolutely ballistic – took them all on at the same time. It was a bloodbath, on both sides – he was barely standing, and the other guys… well, they weren't. Two of them ended up dying."

"Needless to say, the headmaster had to do something," Tai cut in. "Almost was expelled and arrested. That should have been the end of it… but it wasn't. He broke out of jail a few days later and made his way back here."

"Why'd he do that?" Yang asked.

"Simple," Qrow answered, "He wanted to see Summer."

"Summer was his best friend," Taiyang explained. "He figured he could trust her, that she would go along with whatever he had planned because they were so close. He approached her and told her his plan: the two of them were going to run away to Menagerie. They were going to get away from humanity and live among their own kind, with people who understood them."

"Summer refused, to put it lightly. Not only did she have a team to look over and a dream to pursue, but she wasn't about to go anywhere with him after he had killed people."

"I'm guessing he didn't take it well," Weiss said.

Tai shook his head. "No, he didn't. Summer was the one person he felt like he could trust no matter what, and she had basically just spit in his face. He was pissed, enough to try and choke the life out of her for betraying him. Luckily Raven happened to walk in, otherwise he might have managed to do it."

"The two of them managed to hold him off until help could arrive, but he was able to escape out the window."

"There's no way that was the end of it," Blake interrupted.

Qrow shook his head. "If only we'd been so lucky. Nah, that was far from the end of it. He managed to disappear into Vale and lose himself on the outskirts of the city – back then, those were slums, mostly filled with Faunus. They were sympathetic to him, and even if they weren't, there was no way they were going to tell the police anything."

"From there, everything gets kind of fuzzy. We know he spent the next few years until we graduated stalking Summer, sending her threatening messages and trying to follow her whenever she went into town. But that was just the beginning."

"The White Fang wasn't the only Faunus advocacy group," Tai interjected. "There were others that came before, most of them more militant than the White Fang. From what we understand, Almost jumped around between them, both to survive and to hone his skills."

"Hone his skills for what?" Yang asked.

"Revenge," Qrow stated simply. "It started small – fresh graduates from Beacon disappearing while away on missions. One at a time at first, then partners, then entire teams. All of them just so happened to be people who had harassed him at some point. It was clear what was going on, and it was also clear that if he wasn't stopped, he'd be coming for us."

"So, Ozpin sent you to deal with him?"

Qrow shook his head. "I wish," he growled. "Nah, Ozpin sent a couple of teams and professors to do it. Tracked him to a training camp for one of his little insurgent groups, then sent in his task force. We didn't get the specifics, but Ozpin assured us that Almost had been dealt with – he was cornered on top of a cliff with no aura and covered with injuries, and rather than let himself be killed, he jumped."

"And you believed him?"

Tai shrugged. "Why wouldn't we? Ozpin had never lied to us before. Plus, we visited the site ourselves – no way someone could have survived a fall like that without aura, or so we thought."

"You didn't think to look for a body?"

"After a battle like that? Grimm were crawling all over the place. We figured that even if he had somehow managed to survive the fall, the Grimm would have torn him to shreds. The amount of blood we found on the rocks below seemed to support that theory, too." Tai shrugged. "Plus, after that point, Summer stopped receiving threats. Why wouldn't we assume he was gone?"

Ruby shook her head. "Too easy. He would never be taken out by something like that."

"Unfortunately." Qrow scowled. "We should have known better, but we were just happy that it seemed to have come to an end. No more teams were being hunted down, Summer wasn't being stalked or threatened, and no more terrorists were being trained. Seemed like a win."

"Now we know he was just hiding under-the-radar," Tai added.

"Is that when he really started to hate the SDC?" Weiss asked.

"Honestly, we don't know where that came from," Qrow replied, shaking his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if he started off faking it to fit in better with his little militia groups, and then eventually started buying his own bullshit. Or maybe some SDC director wronged him at some point or something. He's petty and vindictive enough that it wouldn't take much to set him against the Schnee family. But I can tell you that there's nothing personal there that I know of, not that there needs to be for someone like him to hate you."

"There's still one thing I'm wondering," Blake asked, stepping forwards. "Why Ruby? If he hated Summer so much, why take in her daughter?"

"Because he couldn't help himself," Tai growled. "The daughter of the one person he hates the most fell into his lap. Summer was dead by that point, so he couldn't hurt her… but he could still hurt her child. Ruby was the next best thing, and he made sure to enjoy it. There's not a doubt in my mind that he would have eventually tried to kill her at some point, then dumped her corpse on our doorstep."

"The man's a sociopath," Qrow interjected. "He might have been able to keep it under control at first, but once he was kicked out of Beacon and had surrounded himself with like-minded people in those terrorist groups, it just festered. Believe me, pathetic as it is, all he cares about is getting revenge – on Summer, on humanity..."

"...On me," Ruby finished. "He'll come for me eventually."

"We know," Tai said. "But you won't be alone."

The wolf scowled. "You don't know what he's capable of," she warned. "However strong you thought he was when you last saw him, he's leagues stronger now."

"We know," Qrow insisted. "Ozpin told us about how you fight. If he's anything like that, then we have a pretty good idea of what he's been doing ever since leaving school. He's done nothing but study combat, all to try and find ways to counter how Tai and I fight. I'd be surprised if he didn't know the ins and outs of every facet of our styles by this point."

He smirked. "...Well, as best as he can, anyway; Tai's still one of the best unarmed fighters in the world, and I doubt that he knows the intricacies of dealing with a skilled scythe-user."

"I use a scythe," Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah, and you're good at it, but you still have a lot to learn." Qrow's smirk widened. "In fact, I think now would be a good time to start teaching you."

"Same to all of you," Tai said, motioning towards the rest of Team RWBY. "If it were up to me, I'd have you all hang back, but something tells me Almost won't be so courteous to any of you. Yang's a target because she's Ruby's sister and Summer's daughter, Blake's a target because she's ex-Fang, and Weiss… well, I don't think I need to go into specifics. You're all going to have to kick your training into overdrive, and we're going to be the ones to teach you."

Blake and Weiss exchanged a glance.

"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but what did you have in mind?" Blake tentatively asked.

* * *

Blake stumbled over to the sidelines, gasping for breath. She collapsed in a heap on the ground, her sword falling next to her with a clatter.

"I don't… know how… she does it..." Blake said between gasps of air.

Ruby and Weiss paused in their training to look over to the arena, where Yang and Tai were still in the midst of a spar. It had started out as a two-on-one, but with Blake having been eliminated, it was now just Yang versus her father. The two were pretty evenly matched at this point in time, but Ruby could tell that her dad was pulling his punches – he was refusing to capitalize on obvious holes in Yang's defense, instead pointing them out to her and letting her adjust before resuming the fight. To Ruby, it was a strange way of training – she wasn't used to it being so lenient.

Next to her, Qrow chuckled. "Tai and Yang have been doing this for years, and they both love to exercise. They've both got the endurance to go on for a while."

"It's… insane..."

At that, Qrow shrugged. "You'll get there in time. We've got a few weeks to train for the Vytal Festival, so we'll work on your endurance until then."

"And how… do you plan on… doing that?"

"Running," Ruby interjected. "Take a rest, then get up and do cardio. Intervals."

Blake groaned, but nodded. Ruby could tell she didn't want to do it, but after what they had all been told about Almost, they had all decided to kick their training into overdrive. Anything less, and they would be easy prey for him.

Today was the first day, and was really meant to gauge everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Tai had determined pretty early on that Blake's biggest weaknesses were her reluctance to use her semblance to its fullest potential, as well as her relatively low stamina. Yang, meanwhile, was not used to fighting human opponents in a life-or-death situation, so he was completely overhauling her unarmed style to add more grapples, throws, holds, and escapes in addition to her standard array of boxing techniques. Plus, Taiyang had decided to take a page out of Ruby's handbook and teach her to fight dirty – crotch shots, liver shots, strikes to the kidney and spleen, eye gouging, targeting the throat and back of the head… all were being incorporated into her training.

Yang had been reluctant to learn some of them, but had relaxed when Qrow and Tai had explained that these were all things they would be taught in their fourth year, when it was determined that they were more prepared to deal with the possible ramifications of having killed somebody. Ruby could tell that her three teammates were uncomfortable with the idea of possibly killing someone, but thankfully they had all decided to learn the techniques anyway, just in case.

Of course, this didn't apply to Ruby and Weiss just yet – Ruby's torso still hadn't recovered, and she wanted to wait until Weiss' pain was completely gone before subjecting her to more punishment. Plus, neither of them had their primary weapons on them, so training was going to be futile without them at this point. Instead, Ruby had decided to sit back and allow herself to recover, opting to teach Weiss how to be a better shooter.

"Ready?" Ruby asked, holding a stack of clay pigeons in hand.

Weiss nodded, placing her hand just over her revolver's grip. Ruby counted to three in her head, then threw the first clay.

As fast as she could, Weiss ripped her gun from its holster and fired. She cursed under her breath when the shot went wide, missing the target by inches. Ruby frowned.

"Good try, but you need to be faster," she suggested.

"I know..." Weiss said. "How did you get so fast, anyway?"

Ruby's mouth quirked upwards slightly. "Lots of practice. Hours spent doing nothing but timing myself drawing and aiming my gun, plus hours spent dry firing."

"Is that really what it takes?"

"Yes. You will need to practice your draw as well as dry firing in addition to using live ammo."

"Even for a backup weapon?"

Ruby shrugged. "Until you get your sword back, that's not a backup weapon."

"True…" Weiss holstered her gun. "Okay, show me the proper way to draw."

Ruby nodded, getting closer in order to show her friend the finer points of drawing her weapon when she was interrupted by Weiss' scroll buzzing. Confused, the heiress pulled it out of her pocket, only for her expression to suddenly light up.

"Winter's here!" she said excitedly.

Qrow frowned. "Ah, great… Ice Queen's here."

"Oh, quiet, you vagabond!"

"Vaga-what?"

Weiss turned to Ruby, a big smile on her face. "I'm going to go meet her! Come with me – I want her to meet you!"

Ruby paled. "Is… is that really a good idea? I mean..."

"Ruby, we've been over this," Weiss explained gently. "I don't blame you. You're my friend. Besides, Winter is going to want to meet you eventually."

"Well, let's all go, then," Blake said, having caught her breath.

Ruby hesitated, then nodded. "...If you're all sure."

They all seemed to be, unfortunately. After interrupting Tai and Yang, they all set off.

Ruby did her best not to let her apprehension show as they moved towards the docking bays.

* * *

"Winter!"

For a moment, Ruby was afraid that Winter was going to maintain her military persona even around her younger sister. She was relieved when Winter suddenly dropped all pretenses of being in the military, instead embracing her sister with a smile.

"It's good to see you, Weiss," she said. She cast a glance over at the rest of them. "And who are-"

Her gaze settled on Ruby, and she instantly froze, her eyes widening in surprise. Ruby blinked, then diverted her gaze, shifting uncomfortably. Qrow frowned, stepping in front of her.

"I trust there's no problem?" he questioned, his voice tense.

Winter hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. "...Weiss told me about her a few days ago. I just wanted to be sure that she was the one."

"She is," said General Ironwood, stepping out of the ship from behind her, his hands clasped behind his back. "She matches the description."

None of them expected anyone else to come stepping out, which is why they were surprised when someone else did.

Yang blinked, surprised. "Penny?"

Penny waved at them all. "Hello, friends! It is good to see you again!"

Blake glanced over at Penny, then at Ironwood. "...Is there something we're missing?"

"Classified," Ironwood announced, much to her displeasure. "All you need to know is that Penny works for me, and that she's the reason we know who Ruby is."

"I'm sorry," Ruby announced, taking everyone by surprise. "I spent years, hunting down your Specialists and politicians… I was wrong. I understand if you hate me, but-"  
Ironwood cut her off by holding up a hand. "I understand," he said, "and given the circumstances, I don't hold it against you. Rest assured, you are not at fault, and I will not be seeking to punish you for anything."

Qrow relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. "Well, what do you know? The tin man _can _be reasonable."

"Qrow," Tai said, cutting off both Ironwood and Winter before they could retort. Instead, he approached them both, nodding in greeting towards the General and offering a hand to Winter. "Taiyang Xiao Long. It's nice to meet you."

Winter accepted his hand. "Xiao Long? Then you are Yang's father."

"Ruby's, too."

"Truly? Forgive me if I cannot see the resemblance. Is she-"

"Adopted? No; they're half-sisters. They have different mothers. Yang has my hair color, but aside from that, they both take after their respective mothers more than me."

"Ah, I see."

The two broke the handshake, and Winter turned to Yang. "You are Yang Xiao Long?"

Yang nodded. "Yup, that's me."

"You have my gratitude. From what Weiss has told me, she was having a tough time before you reached out to her."

"I appreciate it, but your thanks isn't needed. Weiss helped me as much as I did her. I'm just glad we're all friends now."

"Indeed." Winter looked to Blake. "And you are Blake Belladonna?"

"Yes, I am," Blake said, clearly unsure about speaking with a Schnee who wasn't Weiss.

Winter nodded. "Yes, you resemble your parents – I often see pictures of them in our reports."

"Nothing bad, I hope."

"On the contrary, anything we see about them has been positive so far. They are some of the few Faunus serving as a voice of reason to try and de-radicalize the White Fang. Both of them are good people."

"...I'm happy to hear that."

Ruby wasn't so sure she was. She sounded relieved, sure, but there was something else in her voice… uncertainty, maybe? Apparently, Yang and Weiss noticed it, too – both were looking at Blake, clearly concerned. Something to talk about later, then.

Finally, Winter looked to Red, who did her best not to shrink beneath her gaze.

"Red Canis."

Ruby nodded, trying not to show how nervous she was.

"Formerly Ruby Rose." Red flinched, but again nodded. Winter frowned. "You caused my sister a lot of pain."

The wolf winced. She saw Weiss and Qrow open their mouths to protest, but Winter beat them to it.

"...But I can see now that whatever I thought about you, I was wrong." The elder Schnee's expression softened. "I am glad you escaped the White Fang, and even more glad that you have made amends with my sister. From what I understand, you even saved her life."

"She did," Weiss said, before Ruby could protest. "And she's not Red anymore, Winter – she's back to being Ruby."

If Winter was surprised, she didn't show it. "I see. In any case, you have my thanks."

Winter offered a hand to her. Ruby stared at it in disbelief for a few seconds before accepting it.

Shaking Winter's hand felt surreal… but at the same time, the wolf felt a weight lift off her shoulders slightly.

After a few seconds, the handshake ended, and General Ironwood stepped forward. He looked over to Tai and Qrow.

"Has Ozpin told you why we're here?"

Qrow nodded. "Yeah, he has. Council wanted you on security." He scoffed. "Can't say I agree with 'em completely, but if the White Fang is planning something, it can't hurt to have you around. Civvies won't like it, though."

"They will grow accustomed to it. The fleet will only be here for a few weeks, anyway."

"Speaking of, where is the fleet?" Tai asked, looking up in the sky and squinting. "I can't see them anywhere."

"They aren't here yet, and won't be for another couple of days," Ironwood announced. "I came ahead of time to coordinate things with Ozpin… and to meet with you and your family, Tai. I owe you all a big apology, especially you, Miss Rose."

"...Me?" Ruby questioned.

Ironwood nodded. "Yes. If it weren't for me following that order all those years ago, your mother might still be alive, and you might have avoided falling into the White Fang's clutches."

"Lemme stop you there, Jimmy," Qrow grunted. "True, you followed a really dumbass order, but as much as I think you're a prick, I don't think anyone here blames you for what happened. There's no way you could have known."

"Regardless, I am apologizing anyway. It's the least I could do."

"You sure?" Tai asked. "You already did a lot for me all those years ago."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ironwood quickly replied.

Tai blinked, then grinned slightly. "Right, of course. Well, if that's the case, you'll have to tell me who to thank for changing my jail time to a ban from entering Atlas instead."

"I'm sure, whoever they are, they would be more than happy to accept your gratitude, probably because they had always thought the Council deserved to face the repercussions of their poor decisions for once and were glad to see it actually happen in their lifetime."

Next to him, Penny frowned. "General Ironwood, what are you talking about?"

He waved her off. "Nothing to worry about, Penny. Just some ancient history between two old men."

"I see." She paused. "...Sir, with all due respect, am I still obligated to fulfill my mission parameters and prime directive, now that Ruby is in my sights?"

Ironwood's response came without even a trace of hesitation.

"As of this moment, Ruby Rose is to be considered an ally."

"I see. Updating parameters to include her under BLUFOR."

At everyone's questioning glance, Ironwood waved them off. "Best not to ask."

"Right..." Yang said. "So, what now?"

"Now, I have a meeting with Ozpin and Glynda," James announced. "But before then, I have a question for Miss Rose."

He turned towards her, and Ruby felt herself shrink under his gaze. He wasn't her enemy, at least not anymore, but that didn't change the fact that he was intimidating to her. She had spent half a decade killing his men, so there had to still be some animosity there on his part.

"I think you might be able to help me," he began.

"...With what?" Ruby asked tentatively.

"I don't know how you feel about the White Fang-"

Red scowled. "I have no loyalty to them. However, if you're asking for intelligence, I'm afraid that I can't help you – I was just their sword, nothing more. I know as much about their plans as you do."

He frowned. "I see. However, I think there's something else you can do to help." At Ruby's questioning glance, he said, "Would you be willing to go public with your story if it meant striking a heavy blow to the White Fang's reputation?"

That… was a good question actually. She honestly wasn't sure how to answer it at first. Ruby looked over to her friends for guidance, only to see that they similarly seemed not to know how to answer that. The only exceptions were her family, who all seemed displeased – no doubt they thought she had been through enough, and didn't want her to relive it.

That was all she needed, then.

"I'm sorry, General. I don't think that's something I'm ready to do at this moment."

To her surprise, Ironwood took it well, simply nodding in response. "I understand, and I don't blame you. However, I have to do whatever it takes to stop the White Fang."

"I know. For what it's worth, I can tell you what the commanders are like."

He nodded. "Please, explain. It would be a big help."

"The leader is Sienna Khan. She's dangerous in that she's convinced that everything she does is for the greater good. There's no crime she won't commit to see her goal realized. The fact that she saw fit to take me in at all is proof enough of that."

"I agree. Is there anything else I should know about her?"

"Besides that? Just that you shouldn't underestimate her. She's a commander first and foremost, but she's had plenty of training and time in the field to put it all into practice. Combined with her ideals, and she won't go down easily."

"I see. And Almost?"

Ruby's scowl deepened. "There's not much to say about him. He's a sadist, and he enjoys the feeling of crushing his enemies underfoot. If the White Fang is a pack of animals, he's the most rabid one of them all – always eager to kill, and with the skills to back it up. Whoever you send in after him, you ought to be prepared to lose most of them, no matter how well-trained you think they are. Even Specialists are easy prey to him."

Ironwood looked disturbed to hear her say that so easily. "Is there any weakness of his that we can exploit?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I trained with him for ten years – I had time to get to know how he fought. I came close to matching him towards the end because of it, but even then, I never succeeded in getting his aura down to the red. You want my honest advice? When you go after him, you'll need to bring as much air support as you will body bags."

A heavy silence fell over all of them as they tried to comprehend what she had told them. Almost would be a tough opponent for sure; none of them envied whoever James sent in after him. Ruby was just thankful that it wouldn't be her. After all that Almost had put her through, she never wanted to see him again, especially not when she knew her family and friends wouldn't want her to.

That seemed to be the end of it, thankfully. Ironwood turned towards the other adults. "Tai, Qrow, will you be sitting in on the meeting?"

Both men exchanged a glance, then nodded. James unclasped his hands, then motioned for them to lead the way. Winter traded goodbyes with Weiss and began to follow, as did Penny, though she stopped after taking just a few steps after them.

"It is good to see you again, friends," she said with a grin. Turning to Ruby, she added, "And I am glad to consider you an ally, Ruby. I hope we can do fun friend activities in the future, when I am less busy."

Ruby nodded in response. Penny seemed satisfied with this and continued to follow after the General, leaving the four of them alone. Once they were gone, Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. Weiss stepped up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm glad that went well," she said, equally as relieved.

Nobody else had anything to add, but it was clear just from their expressions that they all felt the same way. After a moment, Ruby took a breath.

"...Back to training," she said. "If the General is here, it means they're expecting something to happen. We don't want to be taken by surprise."

None of them even tried to argue.

* * *

It was later that night, when they were all getting ready for bed, that Weiss was interrupted by yet another scroll call. She didn't even have to check the caller ID to know who it was – he had been calling every day for the past week, no doubt to try and grill her over something trivial. But unlike all the other times in the past when she had accepted the call, Weiss couldn't be bothered – she was tired, her legs ached, and she was still ecstatic about rekindling her friendship with Ruby, making friends with Blake, and getting to see Winter.

Eventually, the scroll stopped ringing. She spared a glance back at it before setting it down, and was about to turn away when a message popped up.

_Since you refuse to speak with me, I have no choice but to freeze your accounts until you change your mind._

That was it? That was his big power play to try and get her to speak with him? Compared to what she had been through recently, it was almost laughable in its pettiness.

When put up against what had happened to her at the docks and the White Fang bunker, missing out on her family's money was nothing, especially not when she had her own holdings that he couldn't touch. Hell, she hadn't even used his money in a while – somehow, after making friends with a Faunus, it hadn't felt right to use her father's money. Just about everything she had bought after getting close to Ruby had come from her own private accounts, just as an extra middle finger to her father.

Weiss spared one last look at her scroll before turning away and closing her eyes. Jacques could do what he wanted to her – so long as she had her friends and Winter, it didn't matter.

At this point, they were a better family to her than most of her biological family was.

* * *

The day had been a busy one for Ozpin. He'd had sessions with several students, as well as a meeting with his inner circle. Then there had been the mission updates from the upperclassmen, though aside from Team CFVY reporting some suspicious Grimm activity in their area, everything seemed to be in order.

Now, the only thing left to do was finish what he had started several days ago.

It was easier said than done, of course – a task like this required a bit of a delicate touch and a measured response.

There was nothing proper about what he was doing, but the least he could do was make sure it was done properly.

Ozpin stared at the file on his computer, his face one of grim acceptance.

_Patient file: Canis, Red_

_Note: Red Canis is an alias; real name is Ruby Rose. She will be referred to by her real name from now on. In addition, physical descriptions have addendums added to reflect her real traits rather than her disguise._

_Symptom:  
_

He paused, glancing over to one of the two video files he had open on his other screen. Mouth tightening, he clicked on it.

"_Explain something to me," _came his voice. _"You insist on continuing to refer to yourself as Red Canis, despite having told everyone your true identity. Why is that?"  
_

_"...Ruby Rose has too many bad memories associated with her," _Ruby replied. _"Red is… comparatively mild. At least the people she killed weren't innocent."_

"_You think of the two identities as separate people."_

"_No, I know I'm still Ruby Rose. It just makes it easier going through life if I'm not being reminded of that fact whenever someone calls my name."_

"_Forgive me if I think there's more to it than that."  
_

_"No, you're right. I… I hate being reminded of my relation to my mother. It's why I continue to wear my disguise – I don't deserve to carry her name, or to look like her."_

"_But being reminded of your father or sister does not carry similar feelings."_

"_I don't share a last name with them, and I look a lot more like my mother than my father. Living as Red is just easier than living as Ruby, that's all there is to it."_

Ozpin sighed, skipping ahead in the recording slightly.

"_What happened in the White Fang compound, Miss Canis? Surely you did not simply decide to kill those men on a whim."_

"_No, I… I lost control..."  
_

_"You lost control?"_

"_L-like in the Dust shop. There were other times, too – when I attacked Cardin and Colt's teams, sometimes during Combat Class..."_

"_What do you mean, you lost control? What happened?"_

"_...I don't know, I just… Sometimes, when I'm in a fight… I'm not there, I'm back in Atlas, or Mistral, or something… my heart starts to pound, I start to panic, it gets hard to breathe… I can't control what happens next..."_

Ozpin closed his eyes, taking a breath before opening them again. He paused the video, then moved over to the patient file.

_Symptom: Dissociation. In times of severe stress, patient believes herself to be back on the battlefield. Her fight-or-flight instinct appears to go into overdrive; she becomes incapable of telling what is real and what is not. _

Taking a sip of coffee, he moved back over to the video, skipping ahead a bit.

"_Tell me more about day-to-day life. What is it like?"_

"_I'm… I'm not sure I understand the question. What do you want to know?"_

"_Sorry, allow me to be more specific. In daily life, how would you describe your mental state? Relaxed? Worried?"  
_

_"...On-edge. I spent months afraid of the truth coming out, and even now that it's out, I… I'm still worried something will go wrong, you know? Part of me expects everyone to turn on me, to try and attack or even kill me… It's not rational, but..."_

Again, he paused to update the patient file.

_Symptom: Anxiety. Patient has expressed that she feels persistent worry about her loved ones lashing out at her, even though she knows that this is irrational. Upon examining notes her professors have made about her behavior, all have acknowledged that they have observed patterns of avoidance behavior as well, likely tied to the anxiety – for several weeks, Miss Rose outright avoided her team members, especially Miss Schnee (see paragraph one of background information) and Miss Xiao Long (see paragraph two of background information). In addition, several of her professors have categorized her as somewhat jumpy and easily startled._

Once more, he resumed the video.

"_You mentioned nightmares."_

"_Y-yes, I… I have nightmares about all of it. Sometimes I see myself in the process… other times I see nothing but the people I've killed staring at me. A few times I've seen myself kill my friends, and my family… seen my family tell me how much they hated me..."  
_

_"And how often do these nightmares occur?"_

Ruby muttered something that the microphone didn't pick up.

"_I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"_

"_Every night… Sometimes they even happen when I'm awake..."  
_

_Symptom: Intrusive memories. Patient has nightmares on a daily basis, and has also reported experiencing flashbacks as well. In addition, many of her past mannerisms now make sense in hindsight – her hesitance to be around Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao Long was likely due to the two of them unintentionally causing her severe emotional distress, as they reminded her of past incidents._

Ozpin looked down at his cup of coffee, frowning. There was one more thing left in the video. He didn't want to sit through it, but he knew he had to. As difficult as it made his decision, it was something he needed to do.

"_You mentioned back in the hospital that you have considered suicide."_

"_Not considered. Attempted. Twice. Almost succeeded once."  
_

_"And yet you have stated that you will try again in the future."  
_

_"...I don't know." _Ruby sighed. _"...Earlier, I would have. But now? Now, I think that would be… hasty, to say the least."_

"_Yet you are merely not sure."  
_

_"...Not anymore. No, I think I'm ready to live now."_

Ozpin paused the video, exhaling sharply as he did. Sure, this session had been from a few days ago, and therefore before her talk with Weiss, but reading between the lines, it was still cause for concern.

_Symptom: Negative thoughts; thoughts of suicide. Patient sees herself as worthless. In the past, she has expressed a desire to kill herself, but this seems to have tapered off slightly. Now, she is unsure. The risk of an attempt seems low given that her most recent was one year ago and she has made no further efforts ever since, but the fact that she has tried multiple times in the past and that she is uncertain about whether to try again is cause for intense concern._

_Recommendation: Patient should be flagged as suicidal and be placed on temporary watch for the time being. _

The headmaster stopped typing long enough to pour himself another cup of coffee from the lukewarm pot sitting on his desk. Taking a big sip, he turned to the next section of the patient file.

_Diagnosis._

The earlier parts were difficult, but they were going to be easy compared to this. Still, there was no question in his mind about it – this had to be done.

_1\. Major depressive disorder. Patient's persistent negative mood, feelings of low self-worth, and constant thoughts of suicide are consistent with the symptoms of this disorder._

_2\. Anxiety. Patient's apprehensiveness and fear around loved ones, while diminished from what they were, are cause for concern._

Those two were no-brainers. Even among Huntsmen, they weren't exactly cause for any red flags, with the exception of her suicidal tendencies.

The final one, however, was different, enough that he was hesitant to write it down. The stigma it held alone was bad, but what it meant for her as a Huntress was even worse.

_3\. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Patient's symptoms are all indicative of this disorder._

His description didn't do it justice, and he knew it. But as much as he hated it, that wasn't about to stop him.

_Recommendations: Continued and frequent outpatient therapy; medication. _

_List of recommended medications: Sertraline, 50 milligrams; Prazosin Hydrochloride, 10 milligrams; Risperidone, 1 milligram._

_Final assessment:  
_

He paused. He knew what was right for Ruby, but at the same time, he knew it was something he could never do.

If she had truly been Red Canis instead of Ruby Rose, it would have been an easy decision. Even with her immense skill, he could have afforded to lose her. But she was not Red Canis, she was Ruby Rose – Summer Rose's daughter.

More importantly, she was the inheritor of Summer's Eyes.

Whatever his thoughts on the matter were, that sealed it. She was powerful, and with Salem set to begin making her moves, there was no way to avoid it. Ruby Rose was simply too valuable for him to lose.

He would help her, of course, and not just with learning how to use her Eyes. He would make sure to prevent her condition from worsening, and if things got bad, he would immediately pull her back for treatment. She would be given a steady supply of medication, enough for her to live off of for a while if she was stranded during a mission and cut off. Most importantly, he would make sure to have her family keep in contact with her, and to keep Miss Xiao Long safe.

Whatever it took, he would do it. He simply could not allow himself to lose her as an asset.

With that in mind, he turned back to his computer and typed one final observation.

_Final assessment: Prognosis is concerning, but ultimately not cause for psychological discharge. With continued outpatient therapy, medication, and familial support, as well as time away from combat, patient is expected to recover._

His work done, Ozpin leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

"I'm sorry, Summer," he whispered.

* * *

**Oz, no, what are you doing?! **

**Anyway, there's chapter 18. It probably seems like I'm progressing through Red's (now Ruby's) mental problems very rapidly, but there's a reason for that: most of the other plot threads are being dealt with, and I didn't want to keep this one going on and on with not much else happening around it. If you're wondering why that is, it's because pursuing her mental state much further would be of little benefit, not to mention it would be dragging out the end of Part 1… which, ah, is happening like next chapter.**

**Yeah. **

**...Probably should have mentioned that earlier, but here we are. My bad, it totally slipped my mind until now. Next chapter is the last one before Part 1 ends and I take a hiatus to get my ducks in a row. Hence why I'm kind of going through her mental problems like this – I want to get to the ending of Part 1 with Ruby in a pretty good mindset, so as to give a satisfying conclusion to those of you not interested in the fight against Salem.**

**Now, that being said, this isn't the last of her mental problems by a longshot. They'll be coming up again in Part 2, count on it. I'm not going to just act like some kind words, some medication, and some therapy is enough to deal with that. It takes a lot more than that to get over the kind of problems Ruby has, and I intend to have the story reflect that. I want to treat this subject with the respect and the steady hand it deserves. The last thing I want is to trivialize things like depression and PTSD for cheap drama and clout. If you think I'm doing something wrong with my portrayal of them, by all means, call me out on it; I mean no disrespect to anyone suffering from either, and the last thing I want is to Hollywood-ize them for the sake of a story.  
**

**Anyway, that aside, she's now back to calling herself Ruby. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about that… but do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it is trying to remember that whenever I write her name? Seriously, it's unreal just how many times I typed the wrong name out. Thank you, CTRL+F search.**

**Also, Weiss and Blake are now friends, and Weiss and Ruby are back to being friends again. Hooray, the team is back together! **

**And finally, some information about Almost. I expect that a lot of you are probably going to think his backstory is petty, edgy, and pathetic, and you're actually right - that's by design. A petty, edgy, and pathetic backstory for a petty, edgy, and pathetic man. He tries to dress it up like it's some noble crusade against racism, but really he just likes to hurt people because he got hurt in the past. Nothing fancy or even noble about it; he's lashing out at the world he hates for some perceived injustice. A big, fancy, and ultimately justified backstory didn't seem to fit the kind of man he is, because I have always intended to write him as a petty, sadistic, revenge-obsessed nutjob who dresses himself up as this crusader for Faunus rights, when really he just wants to hurt people because he got hurt in the past, like a little bitch.**

**I toyed with giving him a more "complex" backstory involving the Schnee family, and I ended up hating it. It had the right amount of edge, sure, but I wanted a bit more than that for someone like him. He was always intended to be a pathetic man on the inside, so therefore, I gave him a pathetic backstory to match. Seemed to fit much better in my opinion, but let me know what you think.**

**Besides that, I've got nothing else. See you in two weeks for what should be the final chapter of Part 1.**

**Next update: Saturday, August 1.**


	19. Chapter 19

The Seventh Circle

Chapter 19

* * *

"How does it feel?"

Ruby took a deep breath in, held it, then released. Looking back to the doctor, she nodded. "Seems fine."

"There's no aches or pains?"

"Nothing."

"Okay." The doctor made a note on his scroll, then turned back to her. "Well, everything seems in order. You are free to go."

Again, she nodded. Picking up her discarded clothes, Ruby dressed herself, then stepped out of the doctor's office, where her family and friends were waiting.

"How'd it go?" Yang asked.

"Bandages are all off," Ruby reported. "Doctor wants me to rest another day before I start training again."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Weiss said. "You don't want to strain yourself so soon after getting your bandages off."

Ruby disagreed. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into training, even if she still hadn't gotten her weapons back. Apparently, police forensic teams were still crawling all over the docks and White Fang compound, meaning that until they were done, her weapons were going to be held as evidence. Weiss' sword was receiving the same treatment, but at least she had a backup in the form of her new gun. Ruby, meanwhile, had nothing but her bare hands. It was worrying for a few reasons – both because she hadn't been unarmed like this in years, and again because she knew that Almost was now aware of where she was, and was no doubt planning to come after her.

Even if Adam hadn't told him what had happened, it wouldn't take much for him to put the pieces together. The assault on the compound had some of her earlier calling cards all over it – explosive pistol and sniper rounds, large amounts of corpses, improvised weapons, over-the-top violence, and a complete lack of remorse.

No, he would know it was her just from the brief news reports, even if they had curiously stopped reporting on it after about a day. And since he knew, it was just a matter of time until he did something about it.

Unfortunately, right now, there was little she could do about it.

Instead, Ruby nodded along with her partner's comment. "I'll take it easy."

"Good," Weiss replied.

"How about you? You feeling better?"

The heiress looked down at her legs. "Much better, if a bit unnerved by the fact that my knees are being held together by bits of metal."

Next to her, Qrow snorted. "Oh, relax, Ice Princess. Tons of Huntsmen get the same treatment, it's perfectly safe."

"I know it's safe, that's not the point. And don't call me Princess!"

It had been a rough couple of weeks, being apart from both Team JNPR and Team CFVY. Jaune's team had spent the last few weeks preparing for their mission, which necessitated all of them doubling down on their training in order to be ready. Coco's team, meanwhile, was still away on their mission, which had apparently taken a turn for the worse. They hadn't requested backup or an emergency evacuation just yet, but things weren't looking good. Ruby had been tempted to go volunteer to aid them, only to be firmly rebuked by Ozpin, as was the rest of her team. Apparently, they weren't yet deemed fit for duty again, due to a combination of physical injuries, mental stress, and being very far behind on their schoolwork.

That last one sounded more like an excuse than anything, even if it was true – school had been the last thing on anyone's mind for the past couple of weeks, so their grades had almost certainly slipped as much as their homework had continued to accumulate. Still, their professors at least seemed to understand, and had unanimously agreed to cut them some slack.

And in the meantime, the dance was looming on the horizon. Ruby frankly had no idea what it would entail. While the others had assured her that it would be relaxing, somehow she felt it would be anything but. Still, they all wanted her to go, so she would, if no for no other reason than to make them all happy.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Qrow announced. "Sick of being in this office – the whole thing smells like bleach and I'm afraid my semblance is going to act up and kill one of the patients or something."

At that, Ruby frowned. Qrow had explained his semblance to them all and warned them to be careful around him, but so far, it hadn't resulted in anything more than a few scrapes and bruises. Hopefully it never would, but if she ever got into a fight with him nearby, she was going to have to be extra cautious.

And that wasn't the only thing worrying about her uncle, either. Since he had quit drinking, he had been a lot more irritable and short-tempered. They all did their best to sympathize, but it was tough to take his side when he kept purposely antagonizing Weiss' sister.

And that was another thing – General Ironwood was still at Beacon, the rest of his fleet having arrived a few days ago to begin setting up for the Vytal Festival. The fairgrounds were busy being built, and security checkpoints were being set up around Beacon in preparation for the event. Everyone seemed split in their opinion of it – many of the students, Weiss included, felt a bit more secure, while others were questioning what the military was supposed to protect them from. Ruby knew, of course – General Ironwood was clearly anticipating White Fang activity, which was just as well since she'd made sure to warn him of the possibility a few days ago, when he had sat down with her once again and tried to glean as much information on the White Fang out of her as he could. She didn't mind him doing so, but even still, she disagreed with his methods.

She had personally torn through enough military checkpoints and soldiers to know that they weren't worth anything against a skilled and determined opponent. Even the air support was of limited use – it was great for large targets like Grimm as well as area denial, but it was far from precise. Even if the big cruisers managed to hit what they were aiming at, collateral damage was practically guaranteed.

All in all, she wasn't impressed with Ironwood's army. Sure, more guns and more bodies that were ostensibly on her side were appreciated, but they weren't worth much in a fight. Even those new Paladin mechs, impressive as they looked, had their weak points. Frankly, Ruby would have traded a whole squadron of Paladins for one more Winter Schnee.

She had seen Winter in action when her uncle had pushed her too far one day, and unlike the rest of the army, Winter had been impressive. At the very least, Ironwood knew how to pick his inner circle well.

Not for the first time, Ruby was thankful that she had never encountered Winter on the battlefield.

The six of them – Ruby's team, her father, and her uncle – stepped out of the hospital wing, emerging into Beacon's courtyard. She took a deep breath, trying to replace the scent of disinfectant with that of fresh air instead.

"So, what now?" Blake asked. "We still have plenty of daylight to burn, and nothing to really do."

"No idea," Yang replied. "Ruby and Weiss still aren't supposed to exercise, and we've already gotten our training in for today."

"Why not head into town?" Tai offered. "You've all been cooped up on campus for weeks. Surely you must be getting a bit stir crazy by now."

Ruby frowned. She was feeling pretty bored, but heading into town was dangerous without her weapons and with Almost on the loose.

...Though admittedly, he would have to be very bold to launch an attack in broad daylight, especially with two veteran Huntsmen around her. Plus, she really wanted to see Tukson again – it had been weeks since last time, and she knew he would want to see her family.

"...I think I know what to do," she announced, causing everyone to turn to her. She looked over to her dad. "I think I'd like to go into Vale for a bit. There's someone I want you to meet."

Recognition flashed across Blake's face. "Tukson?"

Ruby nodded, causing her dad to raise an eyebrow. "Who's Tukson?" he asked.

"The man who helped me escape the White Fang. I was supposed to kill him, but instead he convinced me to leave, and even gave me a plan and some money to make it happen. He's really nice. He always wanted me to reconnect with you, so I think getting to see all of us would make his day."

Tai's expression softened. "In that case, I would love to meet him."

"Then let's not waste any time," Qrow announced, motioning towards the airship docks.

* * *

The ride to Vale was uneventful, as always. Their pilot had been forced to check in with some of Ironwood's fighters before leaving, but other than that, nothing had changed.

The trip to Tukson's bookstore was a bit different, if only because her father and uncle were there to glare at anybody who gave her a sideways glance or focused on her ears for a bit too long. Upon entering the part of town where Tukson's store was located, they started doing the same to anybody who focused a bit too intently on Weiss. It was somewhat nerve-wracking, but luckily nothing came of it, presumably because even the Faunus who really hated Weiss knew better than to try and start anything with two obvious Huntsmen, one of them a walking collection of muscle and the other boasting a pissed-off look and a huge sword on his back.

Eventually, they reached the store. They all paused in front of it, frowning. There was a sign on the window indicating that it was closed.

"This the place?" Qrow asked.

"Yes," Blake replied. "We've come here a few times before. I don't understand why it would be closed, though – we usually come around this time."

"...You don't think he had to leave, do you?" Weiss ventured. "I mean, when she told us about him Ruby did say he often had to pick up and leave if he started feeling threatened, so-"

A chill went down Ruby's spine. Weiss was on the right track – something here didn't feel right. Hesitantly, she approached the door and rapped on it with her knuckles.

"Tukson?"

No response, not even the sound of somebody moving around inside. Frowning, she tried again, this time a bit louder.

"Tukson!"

Again, nothing. Swallowing nervously, Ruby turned around and approached Weiss, then reached towards her shoulder holster and pulled the heiress' gun from it.

"Hey!" Weiss protested. "What are you-"

She didn't get a chance to say anything further before Ruby took up a position in front of the door. She heard her uncle pull out his sword from behind her and her dad start saying something, but she ignored it. Instead, she kicked the door in and moved into the house, swinging around the corner with Weiss' revolver in hand.

The store was dark, meaning nobody but her and Blake would be able to see anything. She didn't need to see to know something was wrong, though – the smell was enough to tell her that.

Ruby moved cautiously, keeping the gun pointed straight ahead. Behind her, her uncle and father moved in, both taking care to watch her back. Slowly, yet as fast as she could, she approached the counter, where the stench of blood was the strongest. She peered over, then sighed, lowering the gun. Turning back to her dad and Qrow, she shook her head.

"Call the police and an ambulance."

Both of them exchanged a glance, but nodded, Tai pulling his scroll out. Ruby cast one glance down at the corpse in front of her, exhaling through her nose. That ambulance wouldn't do any good – Tukson's head was practically gone, with little chunks of it decorating the wall behind him. Wordlessly, she turned around, leaving her dad and uncle to secure the scene. Stepping outside, she handed Weiss her gun back, then leaned against the store, her gaze fixated on the ground.

"Tukson's dead," she reported.

"What?" Blake asked. "What happened in there? How can you be-"

"Someone killed him. Shotgun blast to the face." Ruby let out a low growl. "Don't go inside – Dad and Qrow are looking around to see if the killer is still at the scene, and we don't need anyone else in there tampering with evidence."

Nobody argued, instead just nodding wordlessly. Weiss holstered her gun, then approached Ruby, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Will you be okay?"

Ruby sighed, then nodded. "...Yeah. It hurts, but he knew the risks of what he was doing. Just wish I could have done something."

The others exchanged a glance. Clearly, they were expecting her to blame herself, and perhaps on a certain level she did for not being there and not getting a chance to show him just how much he had helped her, but for the most part, this didn't seem like anything related to her – this killing was far too tame to be one of Almost's, meaning whoever did it probably didn't know about Tukson's connection to her. It was most likely just a result of him stepping on the White Fang's toes too often for their liking, and them finally taking the chance to do something about it.

That didn't change the fact that she wanted to earn some retribution for him, though.

It was taking all of her restraint and self-control not to go looking for a group of White Fang to kill in retaliation. Tukson deserved justice, and he probably wouldn't get it from Vale's court system – Faunus-on-Faunus violence, especially that related to the White Fang, tended to go unsolved. Knowing that, it seemed only fair that she take matters into her own hands.

But that wasn't who she was anymore. If she did that, her family and friends would be disappointed. Moreover, she knew Tukson wouldn't approve.

She would get her revenge in time, but in a different way. She remembered reading a quote in one of the books Blake lent her, about how the best revenge was living well. In the past, she would have turned her nose up at that, finding it foolish. But now, after finding out just how much living well truly meant? She was all too happy to oblige.

And the fact that she knew it was what Tukson would have wanted for her only helped solidify her decision. Whatever happened, she wouldn't allow herself to fall back into her old mindset.

She had come too far to fall.

* * *

Ruby sighed, casting a glance up at the clock. The weekend had come and gone, meaning they were once again stuck in class. It had been hard at first, trying to get readjusted to school after all that had happened, but she managed for the most part. What had happened to Tukson as well as what Almost was planning had weighed on her all day, distracting her when she should have been taking notes, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that bad.

The one thing she truly wanted was for Coco and her team to come back. They were supposed to have come back on Saturday, but nobody had heard anything from them. Apparently, the situation had worsened even further, and they had opted to stay behind and try to salvage what little they could from the mission. That was the last anyone had heard of them, at least as far as Ruby could tell. If the professors knew anything, they hadn't told them yet.

Sighing, Ruby absentmindedly ran a finger through her hair. She hadn't gone back to her old disguise, which everyone was thankful for. There had been questions among the other students, of course; funnily enough, they had all been placated by Ruby simply telling them that she was just trying out a new style, and that she had changed her name to Ruby Rose. That had earned her some weird looks, but she didn't mind – Coco had gently ribbed her by saying that everyone already thought she was kind of weird to begin with, so this wasn't exactly out-of-character for her. Personally, Ruby didn't mind the odd looks she got if it meant being her true self once more.

Turning her attention away from the clock, Ruby looked down towards the combat arena. Her team wouldn't be fighting in the arena until after all the others had gotten a chance to, as they had still not been deemed fit for combat. Apparently, Ozpin wanted to be sure that her medications were actually working and that she had a steady supply of them before sending her off to fight.

Her meds… they were annoying, to say the least. There were three of them, all in pill form, and each with their own requirements. The Sertraline was taken once a day, in the morning. The Risperidone was also taken once a day, just before she went to bed. The Prazosin was where things got difficult – she was currently taking three doses of it per day, once in the morning, once at midday, and once before bed. Going back to her dorm for a pill in the middle of the day was a hassle, so she had taken to carrying the pill around with her in a small plastic bag. That alone was annoying, but the implications of doing so were even worse.

When it came time for her to go out on a mission, she was going to have to carry her pills with her. Withdrawal symptoms tended to come quickly if she accidentally skipped a dosage for any of them, with those of the Risperidone being the worst, given that it was supposed to help with her flashbacks. Of course, the implications were clear – if something were to happen to her meds when she was on a mission, she was in trouble. Combat effectiveness would certainly be affected based on the withdrawal symptoms alone. Coupled with the resurgence of her symptoms, and things would get bad quickly. It honestly made her wonder why they were even still willing to let her be a Huntress if they knew she was going to be a liability, but if Ozpin deemed it okay, then who was she to argue?

In any case, she was currently trying to think of a way to mitigate the risk of running out of meds. She had proposed to Ozpin that her teammates be given bottles of backup medication to carry, just in case she ran out or something happened to her own supply, but this was easier said than done – Beacon's pharmacy was unwilling to fill a prescription outside of a standard refill; teenagers would be teenagers, even if they were Huntsmen – and even when she had explained her reasoning, they had still been hesitant to provide her with the amount for three other people like she wanted. On a certain level she understood why that was, but it was still irritating to be stonewalled when it was something she needed in order to be fighting fit.

The bell rang, and the students wasted no time in packing up their things and filing out of Goodwitch's class. Ruby pulled out her scroll to text her dad and tell him she was free, only to just about drop it out of surprise when she saw a message waiting for her.

_Coco: On our way back._

That was it. No cocky attitude, no emoticons, no attached image of her pranking her team… something was up. Ruby looked around, and seeing that her team and JNPR were staring at her, sighed.

"Coco's on her way back," she announced.

Immediately, Yang stood up. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go meet 'em."

Pyrrha held up a hand to stop her, then turned to Ruby. "Did they say when they would be here, or how it went?"

"No." Ruby paused. "...Coco didn't say much of anything. She was very subdued."

They all exchanged a glance. Clearly, they knew something was up the same way Ruby did. Exhaling sharply, Jaune stepped forward.

"Well, let's go," he said. "Sounds like they could use some friends."

Nobody argued with him.

* * *

It didn't take long for the airship bearing Coco's team to touch down. The eight of them didn't need to guess which one it was – the damage was more than enough to tell them everything they needed to know. Much of the ship's armor plating had been damaged, even torn off in places. The nose-mounted autocannon was bent out of shape, with sparks flying out of the gun's electric motor. One of the engines was letting out a thin trail of black smoke, and many of the bulletproof windows were cracked or broken entirely.

The ship roughly touched down at an angle, one of its wheels refusing to deploy properly. The cargo bay doors opened, letting Team CFVY out. They were all in rough shape, their outfits torn in places and small wounds adorning them. Velvet was leaning on Yatsuhashi and wincing with every step; Yatsuhashi, in turn, was covered in scrapes and bruises and nursing a nasty-looking black eye. Fox's wrist-mounted blades were chipped, and one of the arms had been torn off his shirt, exposing a nasty series of gouges on his right arm. Coco, meanwhile, simply looked exhausted – there were dark rings under her eyes, she was missing her trademark beret, and one of her sunglasses' lenses was cracked. She was lugging her minigun along with her, the weapon apparently having been damaged to the point where it wouldn't fold back up into its compact form.

Loose seven-point-six-two millimeter shell casings littered the bottom of the airship, spilling out onto the ground from the cargo bay – clear signs that Team CFVY had extracted under a lot of pressure, likely while in the midst of being overrun. As if Ruby needed any more indication of what had happened, she couldn't see an ammo belt trailing out of Coco's gun, a sure sign that she had fought to the last round before pulling out.

The eight of them rushed forward, bombarding the returning second-years with questions. Quickly, Coco held up a hand.

"One at a time, please," she said, her voice tired. She looked over to Ruby and nodded. "You first."

"Are you okay?" the wolf instantly asked.

Coco softly shook her head. "No… no, we're all pretty far from okay. Uninjured mostly, save for Vel's sprained ankle and some scrapes and bruises, but..." she sighed. "...Mission was a failure."

"What happened?" Ren asked.

"Grimm," Velvet replied through gritted teeth as she tried to support herself on her bad leg. Yatsuhashi apparently decided that enough was enough and gently scooped her up, then placed her on his shoulders. She looked like she wanted to protest, but ultimately shook her head. "…Lots of Grimm," she continued after a moment. "More than there should have been. No idea why."

"Goliath, too," Yatsuhashi grunted. "Nothing we could do."

"We tried our best to get the civilians out of there," Fox interjected, "but..."

Ruby nodded. She didn't blame them – none of them did – but she could see that they all blamed themselves, even if there was nothing they could have done.

Weiss stepped forwards. "If there's anything you need from us-"

Coco nodded gratefully. "Thanks, but right now, I think all we want to do is rest up and get ready for the dance." She turned to Pyrrha. "How is the planning on that, by the way?"

"Going very well," the champion replied. "Though, we owe most of that to the guidelines you left."

"Guidelines are just that without the right set of hands to put them into practice. Glad you and Jaune didn't have any problems."

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it was definitely easier than helping to plan my sister's wedding, that was for sure… though, not having a bride to complicate things made that easier, to say nothing about the _other _bride..."

Coco cracked a small smile. "Heh. Glad to hear it." She motioned to her team. "Now, if you don't mind, we're gonna go pass out for the next couple of weeks."

"We'll bring you some food when you wake up!" Nora offered.

"Thanks," Yatsuhashi said.

The four of them waved goodbye, then set off. Everyone watched them go with a frown.

"Poor guys," Yang said once they were out of earshot. "Must have been rough."

That was an understatement. Ruby had never dealt with a Goliath before, but she knew they weren't to be trifled with. Still, at the very least, Team CFVY would get a chance to relax, both for the next few days and at the dance on Friday night. That was good – after everything they had been through, they deserved a chance to rest and recover.

Hopefully, they weren't called back into action for a long time.

* * *

The week came and went, and before Ruby knew it, the dance was upon them. Friday's classes ended early in order to give them enough time to prepare for it. The students had all retired to their dorms to get ready, Team RWBY being no exception.

"Finally!" Yang said, placing her bag on her bed and stretching out. "Man, Goodwitch seemed intent on keeping us until the very end."

"Can you really blame her?" Weiss asked.

"Yes! I get that she's a hardass, but a little break would be nice."

"We _did _get a little break," Blake pointed out.

"Oh, you know what I meant." Yang finished stretching. "So, who's up for the first shower?"

"Do we even need them?" Blake asked. "None of us fought today."

Yang's jaw dropped. "Weiss, tell her how wrong she is."

"If you're going to get dressed up, you should shower first," the heiress said.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Alright, then. Ruby, you're up."

The wolf nodded, picking up a towel and heading for the bathroom. Her shower was brief, but refreshing, and the only thing that held her up was at the end. She had been about to reach for her clothes when she paused, uncertain.

In the past, she would have gotten dressed in the bathroom in ofrder to conceal her scars… but did that really matter anymore? They already knew the truth. Her scars, while ugly, wouldn't tell them anything they didn't already know. There was no longer any point to hiding them, at least from her friends and family.

Swallowing nervously, Ruby simply pulled on her underwear before wrapping a towel around herself and picking up her dirty clothes. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, stepping out into her room.

None of them looked over to her, apparently too engrossed in their conversation to notice. Gingerly, the wolf Faunus stepped over to her closet, throwing it open and eyeing her clothes for the night – white cotton undershirt, white collared shirt, black suit, black tie… it was all nice, almost too nice for someone like her. It felt wrong to wear all this, especially since Coco had bought it for her and it had been expensive, but they all wanted to see her at the dance, so she was willing to oblige.

Ruby dropped the towel, leaving her standing there in just her underwear. She made to reach for the garment bag when she paused. All conversation in the room had just died. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she found the rest of her team staring at her in an equal mix of shock and horror.

"Gods..." Weiss muttered.

Ruby didn't react, instead turning back to face the interior of the closet. She knew her back looked bad, so their reaction didn't surprise her in the slightest. Apparently, it didn't get any easier, seeing it a second time.

Unfortunately, her back wasn't even the worst of it.

"Ruby..." Yang said, taking a step forward. "...Are you alright?"

"Fine," Ruby replied. "Sorry you have to see it. Next time, I'll get dressed in the bathroom."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, and you will do no such thing," Weiss admonished. Ruby flinched at her voice. "Now, turn around. Let us see it."

Ruby shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked gently.

"Nothing, it's just..." Ruby sighed. "...It's really bad."

"How bad?" Yang asked. "Let us see."

Ruby hesitated, then did as she was told. All three of them recoiled in shock before focusing on her most distinctive scar. She watched Weiss and Blake's eyes go wide in surprise before their shock was replaced with twin looks of pity. Yang, meanwhile, was staring at Ruby and gritting her teeth, her hair sparking; clearly, she was angry at the thought of somebody branding her sister.

Then, Weiss broke rank, stepping forward and throwing her arms around Ruby. The wolf hesitated before reciprocating the hug.

"I...I didn't think it would be that bad," Weiss said softly. "I know you didn't intend to do it, but… from the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Ruby said nothing, merely nodding in response. After a moment, Weiss broke the hug.

She was replaced immediately thereafter by Yang, who practically drove the air out of Ruby's lungs with her hug.

"I'm so glad you're with us now," the blonde said, choked up. "When I find who did this to you..."

Ruby flinched, but said nothing. With luck, Yang and Almost would never meet.

If they did, Ruby would make sure that she got between them, even if it killed her.

Yang broke the hug after a moment, letting go of her little sister. Ruby hesitated, then turned to Blake, arms outstretched in anticipation. Blake smiled slightly before walking over and embracing her.

"I don't really have anything to say that hasn't already been said," she admitted. "But hugs are always nice."

Ruby had to agree.

The two stayed there for a moment before splitting apart. Ruby looked back at the group, shaking her head.

"...Sor-"

"If you apologize, I will slap you," Weiss threatened, though her tone was lighthearted. "I already said you have nothing to apologize for. And if you call your scars ugly, I'm going to get mad." She cast a glance down at Ruby's stomach once more. "And if you ask me, I think that one looks a bit more appropriate now."

Ruby blinked, confused, before looking down at her own stomach, wondering what Weiss meant. To her surprise, there was a thin line cutting across the insignia on her stomach, no doubt a remnant of Adam's attack on her. Despite herself, Ruby found her mouth quirking up slightly at the accidental symbolism of it.

"...I guess it is a bit better now," she admitted.

"Even after what you had to go through to get it?" Blake asked.

"Even then. I would gladly do it all over again. I have no regrets."

"Alright," Weiss said. She moved over to her bed and patted the spot next to her. "Go ahead and get dressed, then take a seat there."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to make you look even prettier than you already do. Think of it as me repaying a favor."

Ruby paused. Her, pretty? She turned to Yang, who merely shrugged.

"Better listen to her," Yang said. "She knows her stuff, and if she wants to doll you up, it's best to just go with it."

Ruby didn't bother to argue, instead quickly pulling on her clothes for the night before taking a seat next to Weiss, all while Blake and Yang watched with amusement for a bit before going off to get themselves ready. Weiss got to work, putting on a bit – just a bit, at Ruby's insistence, though the heiress did concede that going light worked better for her – of makeup. After some time, Weiss let her go, claiming she was ready.

"How's it look?" Weiss asked as Ruby looked herself over in the mirror.

"...Good," Ruby replied, as honest as she was surprised. She had never worn makeup before, and even though it felt odd, she couldn't deny that it made her look pretty. "Thank you."

Weiss waved her off. "Oh, don't mention it. Anything for a friend. Speaking of which..."

She stood up, moving over to the bathroom and knocking on the door. "Hey, Blake! Hurry up so I can work on you!"

"That's okay, I don't need anything," Blake called back.

"Oh, no you don't! Get out here, or so help me-"

A knock on the front door caught everyone's attention. Yang finished pulling on her dress before sighing.

"Oh, I know exactly who it is… Well, better get this over with."

She strode over to the door, throwing it open. There, scroll in hand, was Taiyang. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, girls."

"Dad," Yang deadpanned. She sighed. "We'll do a few pictures, but that's it."

"Oh, come on! You only get two Vytal Festival dances, you know, and I might not be there for the next one!"

Again, Yang sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine… C'mere, Ruby."

Tai pumped his fist in victory as Yang guided her over to the hallway. Despite Yang's annoyed look, Ruby couldn't help but feel relaxed.

After all she had been through, it was nice to feel like a normal girl.

The two of them let their father take some pictures before he bid them farewell, heading off with the staff. The girls returned to their room and got ready, all of them changing into their dress attire – Ruby in her suit, Yang and Weiss in matching white dresses, and Blake in a dark blue dress. And with that, they were off.

* * *

The dance itself was… strange, to say the least. Ruby certainly hadn't ever experienced anything like it. Music pounding in her ears, people dancing all around her, bright lights flashing… for someone like her, it was disorienting, and made it impossible to pay attention to her surroundings. She had resigned herself to standing near the punch bowl, her back to the wall as she kept a watchful eye on the other students.

For the time being, she was alone. Yang had challenged Weiss to a dance-off, and despite the heiress' reservations, Yang had eventually managed to goad her into it. The two of them were a bizarre spectacle, both of them possessing wildly different dancing styles – Weiss' was incredibly sophisticated and refined, whereas Yang's was all over the place, resembling a tangle of limbs more than anything. Ruby honestly wasn't sure if either of them were any good, but they at least seemed to be having fun.

Blake, meanwhile, had been asked to dance by a monkey Faunus from Haven, and had accepted at Ruby's insistence that she go have a good time.

Across the room, Jaune and his team had managed to gather a crowd, the four of them dancing in sync with each other. Ruby didn't know the first thing about dancing, but it certainly looked impressive. Jaune was even directing them mid-dance, which she couldn't help but find amusing.

"Having a good time?"

Ruby glanced to her side, where Coco had stepped up, a glass of punch in her hands. She looked stunning, clad in a light brown dress and high heels, with a light dusting of makeup on; even with her signature shades and beret missing, she still looked fantastic.

The wolf shrugged. "It's not really my thing," she admitted.

Coco nodded in understanding. "I see. Nobody's asked you to dance?"

"Jaune did, just to give me something to do, but I refused since he seemed to be having a good time with Pyrrha already."

The upperclassman looked surprised. "Really? Nobody else has tried?"

Ruby shook her head. "A few have given me weird looks, but I don't know what to make of it."

Coco grinned, amused. She shook her head. "Man, you're a piece of work..." She drained what was left in her glass before setting it on the table and taking Ruby by the hands. "C'mon."

Ruby blinked, surprised. "Where are we going?"

"We're dancing."

"I don't know how."

"I'll teach you, it's easy. Trust me, if you can fight hand-to-hand, you can dance. Just follow my lead."

Reluctantly, Ruby let herself be dragged onto the dance floor. The two of them stopped in the center, Coco still holding Ruby by the hands. The music changed to something slow, and she gently moved Ruby's hands, placing one on her waist while holding the other at about chest height.

"Just do what I do," Coco said. "We're just going to move in a box pattern, okay? Your left foot is going to go forward, then to the side, then together with your other foot. Got it?"

"W-wait!" Ruby said. "How do I know when to change?"

Coco grinned softly. "Ah, first-time dancers… I'll count, okay? Every number is a movement. Just follow along. You ready?" Ruby nodded. "Alright. One-two-three, one-two-three..."

The two began to move in sync, and despite starting off rough and treading on Coco's feet a few times, Ruby was surprised by how quickly she was getting the hang of it. After a few repetitions, it became downright easy. She felt herself begin to grin.

"Oh, yeah!" Yang called from the crowd. "Go Ruby!"

Ruby felt herself flush crimson, which made Coco chuckle.

"You're doing fine, trust me," she said. "Now, what's say we kick it up a notch?"

The two of them continued dancing for a while, Coco gradually introducing new moves when she felt Ruby was ready. They weren't anything fancy – certainly nothing like what Jaune and his team were doing – but they were still fun, nonetheless. And that was surprising to her – just how much _fun _she was having. The whole time, Ruby had on a mile-wide smile.

Towards the end of one of the songs, Coco laughed softly. "You're grinning like a madwoman," she observed.

"Ah, s-sorry…" Ruby said. "I've just… never done anything like this before. It's really fun."

"I'm glad to hear it." Coco paused just in time for the music to change to something much more fast-paced. She exhaled softly. "Now, I hope you don't mind, but I could use a break."

Ruby shook her head and the two of them split from the rest of the dancers, taking a seat at one of the unoccupied tables. Coco sighed.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to you since the hospital," she said. "I've been so busy with other stuff… you doing okay, kiddo? Feeling better these days?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes. Ozpin is helping me, and it's nice to see my family again."

"I can tell. You look like a million lien. I mean, I've seen you smile more tonight than all the other times combined." Coco leaned forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I just want you to know, it's great to have you here."

Ruby felt her smile falter. "...You're worried about-"

"How could I not be? Ruby, you talked about wanting to kill yourself – about how you already _tried _to kill yourself, and how you planned to try again. Weiss told me she talked you down, but I know it's not that easy." She shook her head. "I just want you to know that you have a lot of people who care for you, and who would miss you if you were gone. We all love you, okay?"

Ruby gently nodded. "...I know."

"Never forget that," Coco implored. The music changed back to something slow-paced, and she grinned. "Now, I think that's enough of the depressing stuff. You ready to have some more fun?"

Ruby perked up, nodding. Coco's smile widened. "Great. C'mon, I'll show you one called the promenade."

With that, Coco took her hand and pulled her over to the dance floor, the two of them continuing to dance the night away.

* * *

Across the room, Yang stumbled over to the punch bowl, wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead as she did so. Filling up a cup with punch, she drained it before going back for more.

"It's not spiked, is it?"

Yang pulled the empty cup away from her lips, shaking her head with a grin. "No, Weiss. It tastes perfectly fine."

The heiress took that as her cue to grab some for herself. Filling up a cup, she moved to stand next to Yang, looking out over the crowd. Their gaze settled on Blake, who was dancing with a monkey Faunus... who, of all the ways to dress for what was supposed to be a formal event, had opted to simply throw a tie over his opened-up shirt. Yang chuckled, not only at that but also at her partner's moves.

"Someone's gonna have to teach Blake how to dance," she remarked. "She looks like she has two left feet."

"More like two and a half," Weiss said, shaking her head with a wince. "You know it's bad when Ruby is doing better."

"Heh. Yeah."

At that, Yang looked back out over the crowd, looking for Ruby. She found her at the center of the crowd, dancing with Coco. The brunette was leading her through the motions, sure, but Ruby wasn't doing too bad – she at least seemed to get that she ought to let Coco take control.

Yang's expression softened. "Look at her. She looks so different from a few months ago."

"Well, try to put yourself in her shoes," Weiss ventured. "She's been holding in her secrets for so long. They were probably tearing her apart the whole time. Can you even imagine having to do that?" She shook her head. "I'm glad that she's okay now."

Yang nodded, then looked over to Weiss. "I owe you a lot, Weiss."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard about what you did. You talked her down."

"No, I didn't." Weiss shook her head. "I just pointed out how much she stood to lose if she went through with it. She's the one who made the decision to live, not me."

"Still, she wouldn't have done it without you."

Weiss didn't get the chance to say anything before Yang pulled her into a hug. After a moment, Weiss reciprocated.

"I can't thank you enough," Yang said softly. "For everything, I mean. You had every right to hate her, or tell her that she didn't deserve to live. She would have listened to you without question."

"You know I could never do that," Weiss replied. "She's my friend."

"Still-"

"Yang, please. And if anyone deserves thanks, it's you. I know you don't want to accept it, but honestly, you deserve it the most out of everyone here. If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened – we would all still hate each other, we wouldn't be a team… I don't even want to think about it. It would have been horrible."

"I think you're giving me too much credit."

"No, you're not giving yourself enough credit." Weiss sighed, annoyed. "You always do this. You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"I get that a lot."

"I bet, you oaf."

With that, they broke the hug, going back to looking over the crowd and watching Ruby. The song had changed to something fast paced and Coco was currently trying to coax Ruby into really trying to dance on their own. At first, it looked like she wouldn't do it… but eventually the wolf Faunus relented, going into a series of movements that could hardly be called dancing. Yang and Weiss looked at it for a moment in disbelief before turning to each other, a series of giggles coming from both of them.

"S-sorry," Weiss said. "She's your sister, I shouldn't-"

"You kidding?' Yang replied. "I'm getting this on video. Dad'll love this."

True to her word, Yang fished out her scroll and began recording her sister as she made a fool of herself. Unfortunately, it was over after just a few short seconds, but Yang chuckled all the same as she pocketed her scroll.

"That's one for the highlight reel," the blonde announced. Before Weiss could respond, Yang looked past her, a grin growing across her face. "Look alive, we've got company."

Weiss turned around and found Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi moving towards them. Velvet was leaning on Yatsu for support and limping with every step, which concerned them until they saw the look on Velvet's face.

"Hey, you two," Velvet announced as she approached. Once she got there, she leaned on the table for support as she dusted off her cream-colored dress.

"Hey, yourself," Yang replied. Motioning to her injured foot, she said, "Everything okay there? Seems like it hurts."

Velvet waved her off. "Still haven't recovered from the mission; it should be better in a little bit. Doctors said I'm good to walk on it, but no running or dancing."

"Well, that sucks. Sorry about that, Velvet."

"Ah, well, I won't complain too much – the atmosphere is enough for me, honestly." Looking around, she said, "Man, Jaune and Pyrrha really worked wonders on this."

"You bet we did," Jaune announced as he came up from the side, one arm interlocked with Pyrrha. Like both Fox and Yatsu, he was dressed in a suit, though his was a dark blue to Yatsu's pinstripe gray and Fox's dark brown. "How's it going, everyone?"

"Pretty good," Weiss said. "You and Pyrrha came together?"

"Yup!" Jaune said. "Neither of us had dates, so we decided to go as friends."

"I had to talk Jaune out of wearing a dress," Pyrrha stated. At their confused looks (and Yang's wide grin), she flushed as red as her gown and decided to elaborate. "He had a bet going where if I didn't end up with a date to the dance, he'd show up to it in a dress."

"Why does that sound one-sided?" Fox asked.

"Because it was. He basically made the bet with himself."

"And I was prepared to carry it out, too," Jaune remarked. "I had a nice baby blue-colored number picked out and everything. An Arc never goes back on his word."

"What made you decide not to, then?" Yatsu asked.

"Simple: Pyrrha asked if we could go as friends, and I said yes. Then she convinced me that it technically counted as having a date, so I didn't have to wear it." He shrugged. "I was still gonna wear it, though."

"There something you're not telling us about yourself, Vomit Boy?" Yang asked, a wide grin on her face.

"Only that I'd have absolutely killed it in that dress."

"Boy, in that dress, the light reflecting off your pale legs would blind half the room. We should all consider ourselves lucky that you're here in a suit, otherwise it'd be like staring directly into the sun."

"Oh, sure. You know I'd wear that thing really well."

"Whatever you say."

He went to say something else only to notice something off in the distance. His eyes widened. "Nora, no! The smoke machine is for smoke, not syrup!"

And like that, he was off running. Everyone watched him go before they all turned to Pyrrha.

"So, he hasn't figured it out yet?" Velvet asked.

Pyrrha sighed and shook her head, though she was grinning softly at the same time. "Not yet, no."

Fox shook his head as well. "Geez… someone is going to have to spell it out for him."

"Ah, don't worry, Pyrrha," Yang remarked. "You'll get him."

"You think so?"

"I know so. He's just oblivious. Give it time."

All of them immediately stopped talking as Jaune rushed back over, panting tiredly. Exhaling sharply, he stood up, brushing his suit off.

"Sorry about that; had to help Ren rein in Nora. Anyway, what'd I miss?"

"Nothing much," Weiss replied. "We were just discussing Ruby and Coco dancing."

"Oh, they're dancing? Where?"

The heiress pointed out to the center of the room, where the two girls in question had once again started dancing together. Ruby had a huge grin on her face; it was clear she was having a good time despite her initial reservations.

"Aww..." said Velvet. "That's sweet."

Jaune nodded. "Hard to believe she's the same girl from before."

Yang cleared her throat. "Weiss and I have already discussed this, but I just wanted to say, thanks to all of you for being there for her. You have no idea just how much you helped."

"And before you say it," Weiss interrupted, "I've already had a talk with Yang about how she's the one responsible for all of this. Don't bother trying to bring it up; she won't listen."

Yatsu looked like he wanted to argue, but ultimately relented. "...You're the boss."

The conversation petered out after that, all of them content to simply stand there and enjoy the festivities. Eventually, they began to split off to do their own things, most of them going to talk to other students or to go dance.

Across the room, Ruby split off from Coco for a bit in order to catch her breath. She only got about ten seconds of freedom out of it before she started to hear someone come up behind her, and she barely had time to wonder about who it was before they revealed themselves.

"Hello, friend-Ruby!"

Ruby turned around, her expression softening. "Hello, Penny."

The orange-haired girl was there in a green dress, looking very similar to how she usually did, albeit a bit more formal – she had on just a bit of makeup, and her hair was a little neater than it usually was. She looked very good, and it was only accentuated by the big smile she had on her face.

"What can I do for you, Penny?" Ruby asked.

"Dance with me!" Penny implored.

Ruby was taken aback by just how forward she was. It wasn't like her and Penny weren't friends by this point, but she didn't think they were that close; really, this was just surprising more than anything. "Um-"

"Come on, please?" Penny begged. "I assure you, I am dancing ready!"

Ruby considered it before shrugging. This was a happy occasion, so she might as well spread some joy. "Sure, Penny. What did you want to-"

She never even got the chance to finish asking her question before the Atlesian squealed excitedly, then took her hand and sped over to the dance floor, almost bowling over a blue-haired boy and his two teammates in the process.

"Sorry!" Ruby called out just as Penny came to a stop.

Doing her best to keep her head from spinning, Ruby shook herself out of her stupor just in time for Penny to take her by the hands.

"I have requested something energetic from the DJ, and it should be coming up right about… now!"

As if on cue, the music suddenly changed to something a lot more fast-paced, featuring distorted guitars and pounding bass. Ruby winced, knowing that she was about to make a fool of herself… but somehow, that paled in comparison to how happy it would make Penny feel.

"Okay," she said. "You take the lead, Penny. Show me what to do."

Penny was so happy to oblige that it completely made up for the fact that Ruby knew she was embarrassing herself the entire time.

* * *

The night continued to go on, with Ruby dancing with Penny and hanging out with Coco for most of it. Eventually, she decided that she needed a break, and broke off from Coco to go off on her own for some fresh air. Stepping out onto the balcony, the wolf stared up at the shattered moon as she breathed in the crisp night air.

"Thought I'd find you out here."

Ruby's ears perked up at the sound. Turning, she found Blake standing there with two cups of punch. The cat Faunus approached and offered her one, and Red graciously accepted. Blake held up her cup.

"Cheers."

Ruby blinked, unsure of what to do, but ultimately decided to mime what her friend was doing. Holding up her own cup of punch, she said, "Cheers."

Blake drank, and so did Ruby. The punch was very sweet; it was actually pretty good. Having emptied their cups, both girls set them aside. Blake moved up to Ruby's side, resting her arms on the balcony.

"Hard to believe we've come this far," the cat Faunus remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just think of how we used to be at the start of the year. Our team was, to put it simply, a disaster. But that's over with now – now, I'd wager that we're probably the closest team here at Beacon. Amazing how that happened."

Ruby blinked, then shrugged. "...Not really." At Blake's glance, she added, "I-I mean, given what we had to go through..."

"Yeah, you're right," Blake conceded. "I guess our only real options were to either come together or break apart even further, and the only way that could have ended was with all of us getting expelled. I suppose it makes sense, then. Not to underscore how amazing it is that we all managed to come together." She grinned, shaking her head. "If you'd told me a few months ago that one of my closest friends would be a Schnee, I would have called you a liar."

"How do you think I feel?" Ruby asked.

Blake paused, her eyes widening. "...Did you just make a joke?"

This time, Ruby paused. "...I… I think I did? Um… is that bad?"

Blake chuckled, putting an arm around her and pulling her close. "No, I'd say it's the opposite."

The two of them looked back up to the stars. After a moment, Blake turned back to her.

"We're all very proud of you, you know," she stated. "It's amazing, just how far you've come. You're barely even the same girl you were when you first arrived at Beacon." She thought for a bit before shaking her head. "Actually, I guess you technically aren't the same girl as when you arrived at Beacon."

Ruby fidgeted slightly, somewhat uncomfortable, though she didn't argue Blake's point. "S-still have a long way to go..."

"Don't sell yourself short – you've done really well so far, and in such a short time, too. You must have really missed your family for them to have such a big effect on you."

"I did, b-but… it's not just them," Ruby replied. "It was all of you. You were all there for me, even though I didn't des- er, felt like I didn't deserve you."

Blake nodded, and Ruby sighed, relieved that she had caught herself. She wouldn't let herself fall back into that mindset. That wasn't her anymore.

"How do you feel?" Blake asked. "Is everything going okay? You don't want to…"

She trailed off, but Ruby caught the hidden meaning, and quickly shook her head. "...No. No, I… I think I'm ready to live. I don't want to leave you all behind."

Blake's expression softened. "I'm glad. But what about everything else?"

"I… I don't really know," Ruby stated. "I used to think that all I was good for was killing… it's hard, breaking out of that mindset."

"I'd think it would be. Nobody blames you for that, especially not if you're making the effort to change."

"Yeah. I don't want to go back to that life – don't want to kill anyone unless I absolutely have to. That's not who I am anymore."

"That's never who you were," Blake gently admonished. "Don't ever forget that. Like I said a few weeks ago, you are more than your mistakes, Ruby."

Ruby sniffled softly. It was tough to hear that her friends cared this much about her… but to her surprise, it wasn't because of the old reasons. Rather, it was just that it was tough for someone like her, who had gone so long without affection, to be suddenly drowned in it. Even those weeks at Beacon directly after revealing her true identity hadn't done much to inoculate her to the love her friends and family had for her; it still brought her to joyful tears whenever she realized just how much they cared.

Blake chuckled, bringing one hand up to wipe Ruby's tears away. "Hey, now. Don't want your makeup to run, do we? Weiss would throw a fit."

Ruby couldn't help but crack a small smile. "...Okay."

Blake's only response was to grin happily, then pull her closer. The two girls held each other as they watched the starts together, listening to the party behind them. Ruby relaxed in her friend's grasp, closing her eyes as she softly exhaled.

This was one of the happiest moments of her life, and unlike all the rest, the voice in her head reminding her of everything she had done was completely absent.

* * *

It was just past midnight when the four girls returned to their room, completely drained of all energy. It had been fun, sure, but they were all _tired. _They barely said a word to each other as they took turns showering and getting ready for bed, and before long, the lights were out and they were all in their respective beds… or rather, all but Ruby. She had taken one step over to her own bed before a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Yang asked, though her tone was lighthearted.

"Bed," Ruby replied.

"You know the drill, Rubes."

"Eventually, you're going to have to let me sleep on my own."

"I know, but for now, it's not happening."

And that was the end of that. Ruby climbed into Yang's bed right next to her, and the blonde pulled the covers over the both of them before giving her a small kiss between her ears and pulling her close.

"Goodnight, everyone," Ruby said.

They all replied with goodnights of their own, and just like that, they were out cold.

Ruby's last thought before sleep finally claimed her was reflecting on just how much fun she'd had, and how glad she was to finally be surrounded by people who loved her.

That night, as she laid gently nestled in her older sister's grasp and surrounded by her closest friends in the world, for the first time in a decade, Ruby Rose fell asleep with a small smile on her face.

* * *

**(Explanation time incoming.)**

**Alright, so that seems like a good place to stop for now. I've got some things to say.**

**So, I've mentioned before that my desire for this story is to eventually go all the way. I'd like to get into the conflict with Salem, and all that, because in addition to being good practice for everything I want to write later on, I really just love writing this story, and am not ready to stop writing it just yet.**

**However.**

**Like I said earlier, I get that the main draw for this story is the character-driven drama, and as much as I'd like to act as though getting into things with Salem wouldn't change that, the truth is that it absolutely would. Character drama would still be big a part of it, but action is going to be taking a bigger role in this story from here on out. Why am I bringing this up? Simple: because I know, for a good portion of you, that this isn't what you're interested in. I know that a lot of you are here for the drama more than anything, and don't care about Salem at all. **

**So, here's what I'm offering: this chapter is a good spot to end it, if you want. If you'd like, you can duck out of the story now, and that will be the end of it. Everything after this point will consist of the conflict against Salem. No, it won't be the same as in canon – in fact, I'm going to try my hardest to make sure I don't follow canon very much at all; for example, we won't be heading to Mistral for a very long time, and the Fall of Beacon… well, that'll be MUCH different. _MUCH _different. But for the most part, I think you have a good idea what it will consist of – Maidens, Relics, lots of action, etc. No matter how I change things, those sort of have to be there if you're writing something involving Salem that isn't something that's massively AU.**

**Hence why I'm writing this out now. If you're someone who just doesn't care about that stuff, feel free to duck out now. This chapter ought to serve as a good send-off for you. If you're one of those people, let me just say this before you go: from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you so much for all the support you've given me up to this point. Everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, followed up to this point… I truly can't put into words just how much it means to me. When I first started this fic, I never expected it to get the following it did. You all really make writing this whole thing worth it – you're what elevated this beyond just me practicing my writing into something that I wanted to really bring my A-game to, all because I knew that you all cared so much that I wanted to really put my best foot forward. **

**You all inspire me to be a better writer, and I can't thank you enough for that. Seriously, you've all done so much more than you might think you have, and I value all of it so much. Please, if you're someone who's not interested in the stuff against Salem, and you want to duck out now… by all means, feel free. I understand completely. **

**At the same time, this may be my first story, but it's not gonna be my last story if I have anything to say about it. When this one's done and it's time to get to work on those other ones, nothing would please me more than to have you there alongside me. I hope our paths cross again in the future.**

**But for the rest of you, however many of you are left after that… buckle up, because it's about to get crazy. I've already stated that I'm primarily going this for practice and because I just love this story, but that doesn't mean I'll be taking it easy on you. So get ready, because I'm going in hardcore. We're gonna start this thing off with a bang as soon as we get back from hiatus, I can promise you that.**

**Also, just a reminder: Because I don't know exactly how long this hiatus will be (I'm estimating a few months – ideally no more than 6 at the most, but probably no less than 3), feel free to PM me at any time if you want an update on how it's going. I want to be as transparent as possible during all of this, so if you've got questions, I've got answers. And at the same time, I will be working my hardest to get these edits done as quickly as possible so we can get back to a schedule.**

**Besides that, I've got nothing else. I hope to see you in Part 2, but if I don't, then I hope this chapter was able to serve as an adequate send-off for you.**

**Next update: To be determined.  
**


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